After the Second World War, the United States was too rich and, at the same time, too lacking in ideals. Adults have experienced terrible wars, and now they just want to take advantage of the good times to enjoy the surviving lives in peace. Young people have nothing else to pursue other than vain freedom (drugs, alcohol, promiscuity).
Between 53 and 60, the national hero Eisenhower was elected president. This fighter with almost no party background and political ambitions almost pursued the "rule by doing nothing" program of our Chinese Taoists during his tenure. His lifelong deeds can be summed up as two: externally, he won the Second World War, and internally, he built an intercontinental highway. It is on these intercontinental highways that stretch across the North American continent that Jack Kerouac spent the free-rider life that inspired his endless creative inspiration-on the road, just on the road. There is no ideal call on the other side of the road. Without ideals, the 1950s collapsed.
In the 1960s, rock music, hippies, new leftists, anarchism, and counter-cultural movements, Americans were praying for the rebirth of their ideals. In 60 years, the election of Kennedy, the youngest president in the history of the United States at the time, dealt with the Cuban incident in a tough manner as soon as he took office, leaving Khrushchev faceless. Dissatisfied with Eisenhower's "doing nothing", Kennedy ambitiously wants to revive the American idealism. It is a pity that Kennedy was stabbed to death in 1963, who had not yet expired his term. Will American ideals die?
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Regardless of the fate of American ideals after Kennedy was assassinated, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Westerns of the 50s and 60s preserve the pure American ideals and the epitome of American spirit.
The 1950s and 1960s were undoubtedly the golden age of Westerns. Among the countless westerns of that era, my favorites are two: high noon and for a few dollars more. In my opinion, these two westerns with very different styles not only represent the difference between American native westerns and Italian westerns (also known as macaroni westerns), but also interpret the two versions of American ideals—if you say, westerns. It really reflects the shadow of idealism that is about to emerge from that era. We briefly review the characters and plots of the two films.
The hero in high noon is a weather-beaten old police officer, and the hero in for a few dollars more is a bounty hunter with a stunt.
Under the threat of the bandit gang who came to seek revenge, the old police officer faced a life-or-death crisis. However, none of the men and women in the town came to the rescue. Most of the plot of the high noon is about how old police officers went door-to-door with a glimmer of hope to seek support, and how frustrated they fell into isolation and helplessness-the common people were afraid of robbers, and the comrades who were born to death in the past are now also Unwilling to help.
Bounty hunters are just the opposite. Not the robber looking for him, but he looking for the robber. He is the death god of robbers, and earning bonuses by killing robbers is his way of making a living. In a violent conflict, the old police officer is passive, while the bounty hunter is active. The bounty hunter does not need to look for support, in fact he prefers to act alone in order to take all the bonuses.
Faced with the threat of robbers, the old police officer can also escape. But for the sake of responsibility and Zunya, he had to stay to deal with the final duel. With almost no help from anyone, he still refuses to leave his small town, somewhat with the tragic color of knowing that it cannot be done. As time goes by, the deadline set by the robber gets closer and closer, and you are really sweating for this old police officer.
And the bounty hunter has nothing to do with any tragedy. He is a sharpshooter with a stunt, possessing all the skills of a natural killer, and he has no fear in the face of any danger. In fact, in the first 20 minutes of portraying the characters for a few dollars more, just look at every move of the two bounty hunters, their looks, personality, fighting style, and even smoking movements. Already feel completely relieved about the following story. Especially the scene where Clint Eastwood just came out and killed a wanted man and his accomplice, it makes people think he is an Achilles. What can happen to such a person?
However, the most important difference between the two Westerns, high noon and for a few dollars more, is not the protagonist’s different situation and fate, but the completely different ethical tone of the two stories: the former carries strong The moral and moral color of the American flavor, and the latter not only lacks such color, but also has a great irony of morality.
In the high noon, the opposition between the old police officer and the robber is obviously the opposition between good and evil, and between him and the indifferent town residents is also a comparison of justice and numbness. In for a few dollars more, there is no clear moral boundary between bounty hunters and robbers.
At the beginning of the film, the director makes the protagonist appear in an image of unscrupulously breaking all regulations. No matter for bounty hunters or robbers, laws and rules are meaningless. They follow the rules of the arena: resolve personal grievances with duels, and don't shoot from behind.
Fundamentally speaking, the livelihoods of bounty hunters and robbers are murder, but relatively speaking, robbers are more unscrupulous, killing innocent people and even women and children, while bounty hunters only kill robbers. Of course the old police officer also killed robbers, but that was for self-defense. And in normal times, violence is also the last resort for old police officers. You cannot draw a gun unless you have to. On the contrary, bounty hunters and robbers regard violence as the best solution to all problems, and take action when it is time to take action.
In the duel between the police officer and the robber, what we saw was the confrontation between the two forces of good and evil. In the duel between the bounty hunter and the robber, what we saw was just the competition of skill. Strong distinction between good and evil. At the end of for a few dollars more, the bounty hunter dragged the corpses of the robbers onto the carriage while calculating the bounty, "Eleven thousand, twelve thousand", suddenly heard something behind him, turned around and shot. , And killed a surviving robber. "One seven thousand!" (This person is worth five thousand). To a bounty hunter, a robber’s life is just a few dollars.
In short, perhaps it is precisely because the director is Italian, the bounty hunter in for a few dollars more is obviously a hero who has been Romanized. He is calm, cold, expressionless, and extraordinary, and he is not surprised in any situation. The image of the old police officer is even more flesh and blood. He will also be weak and fearful, but in isolation and helplessness, the power of justice supports him in persevering hard. In contrast, even in a critical situation, the bounty hunter only shows off his marksmanship and skill, only trying to kill him. The shootout is like a game to him. To be honest, the two bounty hunters in for a few dollars more can really be counted as the modern Western version of Achilles.
Comparing the two, at least on the surface, the old police officer in the high noon is undoubtedly more in line with American heroism. And for a few dollars more, the ancient Roman-like heroic image may be a high-quality adult fairy tale, which makes people happy to watch, but it cannot carry the American ideals.
After experiencing the confusion of values and the loss of ideals in the 1940s and 1950s, what the "after the break" America wants is not the Achilles-style bloodthirsty spirit and cold power, but the moral beliefs of the old police officers in the high noon. At any time, even in the 1940s and 1950s, as long as the American ideal exists, it has a strong moral color. In the 1940s and 1950s, it was nothing more than looking for new morality on the other side of morality in a way that seemed anti-traditional morality. Idealism in the 1960s was never a pure power hegemonic idealism. In fact, after World War II, the strength of the United States was not a problem. The problem was that the country lost its moral ideals. Therefore, not only is the Cold War highly ideological, in fact, even today, the actual hegemony of the United States in the world is supported by strong ideology.
As the military and economics of the Western world, and more importantly, as a moral leader, this pure American ideal, if it can be found in the Westerns of the 1960s, should be more in local areas like high noon. Westerns, not for a few dollars more, or Italian Westerns such as the bounty trilogy.
However, the Italian westerns are in their own way, standing more or less from the standpoint of the spectator, interpreting another version of the American spirit and American ideals. That is: to get rid of the moral color that is often reduced to falsehood (at least in the eyes of the directors of Italian western films), and reveal the real intrigue and the side of speaking with power. What impressed me was the irony of religion in for a few dollars more (don’t forget that the United States was a country founded by the Puritans): the robbers’ den was an abandoned church, and the robbers echoed each other by shooting the church bell. , The most ironic thing is that the bandit leader gave orders to his men on the stage where the priest preached, telling them how to rob the bank. In the audience, there were 12 accomplices with ears erected, which corresponded to the 12 disciples of Jesus.
In fact, Italian westerns tell us that there is no absolute morality in the west. Even if there is, it is not the American morality that the old police officers in high noon insisted on, but the ancient Roman morality: use your strength, wisdom, coldness, and even cunning to win.
However, as a type of film, Italian westerns should still be included in the overall category of American movies. In terms of the spiritual connotation expressed, Westerns belong only to the United States, and only belong to the 1950s and 1960s. They use western stories to preserve or call the American spirit full of morality. Italian westerns can be used as a reflection or satire on this American spirit, exposing the reality of the force theory behind this spirit. The relationship between native westerns and Italian westerns can be compared with the American Cold War strategy: on the one hand, the Cold War should be highly ideological, and the opposition between the United States and the Soviet Union should be described as the opposition of freedom and slavery. On the other hand, they are desperately developing armaments technology and are competing for strongholds in Vietnam and North Korea.
The 1960s was the generation after the Beat, the era of the rebirth of the American spirit. The old police officers and bounty hunters in westerns are both inside and outside of the same American spirit.
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