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The revisionist Western, also called the anti-Western, is a sub-genre of the Western film.[1][2][3] Called a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of the traditional by means of character development and realism to present a less simplistic view of life in the "Old West". While the traditional Western always embodies a clear boundary between good and evil, the revisionist Western does not.
Revisionist themes have existed since the early 20th century but it was not until 1968, when the Hays Code restrictions were relaxed, that revisionism finally supplanted the traditional. Although many earlier Westerns are labelled as revisionist, the distinction between them is often blurred by variable themes and plot devices. Some are labelled psychological Westerns, which is closely related to and sometimes overlaps with the psychological drama and psychological thriller genres because of their focus on character, at the expense of the action and thrills that predominate in the traditional. Other revisionist films, in which action and adventure remain prominent, are labelled Indian Westerns or outlaw/gunfighter Westerns because, instead of the traditional hero, the protagonist is a Native American, an outlaw, or a gunfighter. The spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s, not bound by the Hays Code, were strongly revisionist by presenting morally ambiguous stories featuring an anti-hero or a sympathetic villain. From 1969, revisionism has prevailed in Western film production.
- ^ Such as by director Robert Altman about his 1971 film McCabe & Mrs. Miller, as cited in Shapiro, Michael J. (2008). "Robert Altman: The West as Countermemory". In Phillips, James (ed.). Cinematic Thinking: Philosophical Approaches to the New Cinema. Stanford University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8047-5800-0.
He called his film an "'anti-Western' because the film turns a number of Western conventions on their sides"
- ^ Ben Sachs, "The Sisters Brothers", Chicago Reader, September 27, 2018: "Neither a nostalgic throwback to traditional westerns nor a revisionist antiwestern, [...]"
- ^ Brent McKnight, "On Robert Altman's Subversive Anti-western, 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller'", PopMatters, November 21, 2016: "[...] Robert Altman's revisionist anti-western, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, [...]"