Spaghetti Westerns & American Myth: The Wild West Through Italian Eyes [Part 4 of 4]

The Collector

By Katrina Funk

October 4, 2025 

Challenging the Myth of the American West

The Italian interpretation of the Western can perhaps be attributed to differing cultural backgrounds. Italian film directors lacked the inherent cultural knowledge of the American West and its nuances, something American directors possessed. However, this lack of inherent cultural knowledge led to the creation of a different and perhaps more realistic and honest depiction of the American West.

Italian directors were under no obligation to perpetuate the myth of the West and the sentimental American nostalgia for the era. Italian Westerns did away with the code of morality present in American Westerns, instead making every character an island, independent, and chiefly interested in their own survival at any cost.

In American Westerns, Native Americans were usually portrayed as sadistic villains, the plight of frontier towns and their residents. In contrast, Spaghetti Westerns rarely featured Native Americans, and when they did, they were portrayed as neutral characters, neither good nor evil. Instead, Italian Westerns, many of which took place in the Southern United States and Mexico, focused on relations between Mexicans and “gringos,” white characters.

The Downfall of the Spaghetti Western & Its Enduring Legacy

Just as the American Western had fallen into decline following criticism of its simplistic portrayals of the West, Spaghetti Westerns, despite their popularity, soon followed suit. Popular culture began to collectively move on from the Western genre as a whole, which had saturated the film industry for decades. In addition, Spaghetti Western’s low-budget reputation, which had been an asset during the early days of the sub-genre, eventually led to quality issues such as sloppy editing and poorly written scripts.

However, the legacy of the Spaghetti Western endures. Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, which includes films A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, continues to be a cult classic. In each film, Eastwood reprises his character of the Man with No Name, whose signature squint is recognized the world over.

Though the era of the true Spaghetti Western has come and gone, contemporary filmmakers continue to be inspired by the revolutionary subgenre. American director Quentin Tarantino’s neo-Westerns Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight incorporate many themes present in spaghetti Westerns, such as morally ambiguous characters, bleak depictions of natural landscapes, and graphic violence. Tarantino’s homage to the genre with The Hateful Eight did not stop at thematic and aesthetic similarities. Tarantino enlisted Ennio Morricone to compose the film’s soundtrack, convincing the composer to return to the genre after decades. In 2016, Ennio Morricone won the Oscar for Best Original Score for his work on The Hateful Eight.

The Spaghetti Western will forever be canonized in film history. With its wide variety of influences and unique portrayal of the American West, its legacy will continue to live on and inspire future generations of film lovers and filmmakers.