The Western

This chapter is about films that look at the past through the eyes of settlers in the wilderness, the desert, or small outposts of civilization. They are about struggle against enemies real and imagined. The three auteurs examined here take the conflicts to unusual levels, to “heroes” as much in conflict with themselves as with others, in which, at one point or another, despite their virtues and their talents, most of these men are brought low. Some do not prevail, most famously Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers , who returns to the desert wilderness from which he came. In all cases, heroism is brought under question, questioning the very premise of the genre.