Western:Indians and Cowboys

The first WesternThe first Western• Title:Title:• The Great Train The Great Train

Robbery, 1903Robbery, 1903• Director:Director:• Edwin S. PorterEdwin S. Porter• Type:WesternType:Western• Origin: USAOrigin: USA• Duration:15 minDuration:15 min

The first Western with Indians

• Title:The Covered Wagon

• Director:James Cruse

• Origin:United States

• Type:Western

• Date:1923

• Duration:103 min

Indians in films 1920s – 1950s

Between the 1920s and the late 1950s, the Indians have the role of the « baddies » because their way of life is not understood

Many famous films :They Died with Their Boots On(la charge fantastique) 1941Buffalo Bill 1944Colorado Territory (la fille du desert )1949The Broken Arrow (La Flèche brisée) 1950The Big Sky (La captive aux yeux clairs) 1952.

Indians in films from the 60s on

Since the late sixties the Indian way of lifeis approved of, in particular by the hippies.They are opposed to the consumer society and want to live in harmony with nature.

With Little Big man or John McCabe, 1970 the European settlers in Westerns are not heroic.They are cruel, racist and stupid.

Dances with Wolves

• Dances with Wolves , 1990 tells the story of a United States lieutenant who travels to the American Frontier and eventually befriends a local Sioux tribe. Much of the dialogue is in the Lakota language with English subtitles. It was shot in South Dakota and Wyoming.

• The film is often praised for its humanistic portrayal of American Indians different from the typical portrait of either the « noble » or the « blood-thirsty savage ».

No more Westerns?

• Since then very few Westerns have been shot.

• Is it the end of this genre?