Friday, December 8, 2017

Violent, ucronic, incorrect: Spaghetti Western becomes Spaghetti Fantasy



Cultora
By Redazione Milano
November 15, 2017

There was once the spaghetti western, genre that has made the lack of budget and means a real strength. We are in the mid-sixties when filmmakers like Sergio Leone or Sergio Corbucci radically change the American-style western to which the audience was accustomed. Until then, the protagonist at John Ford had always been a spotless and fearless man, a hero, a "good" paladin who fought against the wicked.

In the westerns of the Italian, however, the protagonist is rarely a hero, indeed, his figure is often that of anti-heroism, driven by personal interest instead of idealistic motives. These story stories are not optimistic, nor do they contain the usual morality of American cinema. The dollar makes it a master, the only real interest of the characters. Crudity and cynicism are the engines that drive action to more extreme levels.

The Western Spaghetti had its peak between the sixties and seventies, and then almost disappeared in the decades later. But something remained of that kind that was originally banned and then re-evaluated by the critic. Is it possible that your themes and settings are applicable to other genres?

The Spaghetti Fantasy is born. Forget Tolkien, Rowling or Licia Troisi if we want to stay on our fantastic nostrils. The Fantasy Spaghetti is raw, dirty, sometimes even ignorant, and makes the virtue of its lack of means. It is inspired by the old Sword and Sorcery and the latest Martinique or Abercrombie Grimdark. But it's not just this.

There are no dragons, armies or armies ready to face for the salvation of the world, but cutlings, bandits and sorcerers interested only in gold or their interests. Imagine a mediocre inhospitable village with desolate and dusty villages, dangerous roads to go. We are far from the heart of the empires or the magical and brilliant cities to which the fantasy masters have become accustomed to. The Spaghetti Fantasy favors unknown border villages or rural environments on the edge of the realm where politeness and politeness are not found.

Violence has a dominant part, but as in the West, these rude and almost uncivilized environments can leave room to different types of stories. While on the one hand we can have "For a Fistful of Dollars", it is also possible to have them similar to "They Called Trinity," where lighter and more tones can show the other side of the coin.

Brutal and ironic, cynical and skinned, the Fantasy Spaghetti wants to emerge in the fantastic nostrano, giving us a new retrospective of the genre, making it "Italian".

The first exponent of Spaghetti Fantasy is the "Zappa and Sword" anthology, edited by Acheron Books.

No comments:

Post a Comment