The Western genre, once a cornerstone of Hollywood’s film industry, has seen a significant decline in popularity since its heyday in the mid-20th century. While the Western flourished from the 1930s to the 1960s, with stars like John Wayne and directors like John Ford leading the charge, as the 60s progressed, a variety of factors - from changing societal values to evolving audience preferences and industry dynamics - led to the slow demise of the stalwart genre.
During the early 90s, there was a period when the Western enjoyed a brief revival and looked set to rule the roost again as major studios churned out a slew of big-budget Western productions. From the award-winning Clint Eastwood classic Unforgiven and the Tom Cruise-Nicole Kidman-headlined Far and Away (both 1992) to the romantic Legends of the Fall (1994) led by Brad Pitt and The Quick and the Dead (1995) featuring a young Leonardo DiCaprio (1995), these Westerns garnered critical acclaim and box office success in equal measures by deconstructing traditional Western tropes, and drawing fresh perspectives from other genres to attract a broader audience.
This mid-90s revival in the fortunes of the Western was led by one of the biggest success stories of the decade - the frontier classic Dances with Wolves (1990). The star and director of Dances with Wolves - Kevin Costner - has remained one of the Western genre’s biggest and most recognisable stars (alongside Clint Eastwood) ever since.
EARLY LIFE
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この記事は PRIME Singapore の August - September 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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