The Evolution of the Western Genre西 部 片 的 演 进

文/C. J. 佩里 译/董璐璐 审订/常玉田

By C. J. Perry

或许没有哪个电影流派能比西部片更适合表达美国人的情感。西部片中的许多元素——善恶之争、复仇场景，甚至备受孤独煎熬的主角——都能在其他类型的电影中见到，在其他文化中也有反映，但西部片之所以独树一帜，原因在于电影背景。

[2]自默片时代起，西部片就抓住了电影观众的想象力。简言之，戴白帽的好人对阵蓄胡的黑帽坏蛋，为了追求迷人的女主角的爱，为了有机会骑着马在黑白分明的背景中奔向日落。汤姆·米克斯、胡特·吉布森和威廉·S.哈特等人成了偶像，推出了一大批基本情节相似的电影。

[3]后来电影有了声音，米克斯这群人就过时了。20世纪30年代的西部片仍然延续了10年前的风格；唱歌牛仔罗伊·罗杰斯这样平易近人的明星，出演了一些大多反响不大的电影，比如《来吧，流浪者》。

[4] 20世纪50年代，约翰·韦恩、加里·库珀、亨利·方达以及不那么威猛的吉米·斯图尔特等性格刚强、生活艰苦的牛仔们骑着马，与印第安人（通常由白人化装出演）打斗且乐在其中——这时，西部片才找到自己的节奏。

[6]电影制片厂这一制作模式很快就没什么人采用了，“海斯法典”也废除了。电影制作技术有了长足的发展，每一代电影人的观念都不相同，年轻一代的制片人有意冲破藩篱，用不同的方法讲故事——这些给老派的电影制作带来了全方位冲击。要不是出现了赛尔乔·莱昂内和萨姆·佩金帕等几位导演，西部片可能就此消失了。

[7]之前几十年的西部片有着令人愉悦、振奋的宏大叙事，而莱昂内和佩金法导演的西部片与此大相径庭。莱昂内的《无名客》三部曲由克林特·伊斯特伍德（他第一次出演西部片是在电视剧《皮鞭》中饰演罗迪·耶茨）主演，将“意大利式西部片”的概念引入我们的集体意识。

[8]这类电影预算比较小，使用异国场景，而伊斯特伍德扮演着不讨人喜欢的反派角色成了国际明星。这类电影改变了观众看待西部片的方式。善恶的界限已经模糊。莱昂内不再使用录音棚，也改变了电影的面貌和观感。电影中各种飞沙走石的场景，人们灰头土脸、汗流浃背。他总是运用拍摄技巧把紧张感最大化。1968年，莱昂内拍摄了公认的西部片杰作《西部往事》，主演方达第一次饰演反面角色。

[9]佩金法同情他片中的主人公们，让那些伤痕累累的不法之徒发出人的呼声。（在电影《日落黄沙》中，）霍尔登饰演强盗首领派克·毕晓普，罗伯特·瑞安饰演德凯·桑顿。桑顿原来是毕晓普的朋友，也是帮派成员，如今带领着帮派同伴追击毕晓普。他们的表演赋予了角色可信度和厚重感。

[10]进入70年代后，大部分制片人显然都不愿采用西部片这一题材。电影制作的主流已然转变；导演们都是学过理论的人，讲的多是自己在城郊和城市长大成人的故事。边缘导演罗伯特·奥尔特曼描述“美利坚帝国”不再局限于表面，而是借《陆军野战医院》和《纳什维尔》等作品讽刺这个帝国。乔治·卢卡斯、弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉、马丁·斯科塞斯和史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格等电影制作人开始执掌影坛，他们定下的基调在随后20年大行其道。

[11]约翰·韦恩扮演的步态不稳、说话吞吐的牛仔形象深入人心。这位素有“公爵”之称的明星非常努力，之后拍了许多西部片。从他后期主演的电影，比如《大地惊雷》《牛仔们》以及他的最后一部电影《神枪手》，可以看出韦恩不再不可战胜，衰老、道德扭曲和种族歧视（尽管大多隐于表层之下）逐渐成为影片主题。倒是伊斯特伍德，是西部片在70年代保持生机的一大功臣。

[12]与40年代到60年代的西部片相比，70年代的造星方式发生了显著变化。伊斯特伍德片中的主人公大多最后获得成功，但他本人的成功之中很多伴有空虚缺憾。1976年他自导自演的《不法之徒迈·韦尔斯》（又译《西部执法者》）是一部划时代的西部片。他饰演的韦尔斯是一个农民，内战后很不情愿地当了警员。这部电影有时可以看作一个单枪匹马暴力复仇的故事，也是第一批公开讨论美国政府在西进运动中屠杀印第安人的主流西部片之一。

[13] 1992年的《不可饶恕》是伊斯特伍德导演的最后一部西部片。这部电影既是西部片演进的亮相之作，也成了这一类型片的绝唱。伊斯特伍德凭借《不可饶恕》获得了奥斯卡最佳导演奖。该片是一部以绝不妥协为主题的电影，伊斯特伍德在片中饰演的威廉·曼尼是一个老枪手，最后一次受雇杀人。摩根·弗里曼、吉恩·哈克曼和理查德·哈里斯均参演了该片。影片主人公曼尼没有朋友，妻子已故，比起活着他更了解死亡。影片的残酷如同最后一幕那无情的大雨，曼尼重操旧业，再度彻底沦为杀手，在雨中骑着马奔进夜色。

最后是比喻修辞格的使用。这是一处明喻。将妻子比作棋子，二者有“被困、被限制”的共同点，表现了妻子被生活、被思念围困的状态。此处以比喻之手法，写尽妻子想挣脱生活现状而不得的无力之感，这是千百年来所有囿于世俗将全身心的希望都寄予了丈夫借以改变自身处境的妻子的境遇。

[14]《不可饶恕》上映距今已20多年，西部片几近消失，只是偶尔重现人们视野。20世纪90年代初，有两部关于怀亚特·厄普的作品面世，对比强烈：一部是忧郁（且拖沓）的《怀亚特·厄普》，由科斯特纳出演；另一部是更加振奋有趣（虽说有些情节不一定合乎史实）的《墓碑镇》，库尔特·拉塞尔饰演堪萨斯州的治安官怀亚特·厄普。

[15] 2003年，科斯特纳执导并主演了电影《天地无限》，再次展现出他对西部片的热爱。他因此得以与罗伯特·杜瓦尔（一直在西部片中占有一席之地）和安妮特·贝宁比肩。摄影师詹姆斯·穆罗技艺精湛，拍摄出优美的西部风光，人们熟悉的传奇故事就在这里上演，而不同的是影片节奏流畅，故事也讲得成功。电影情节经常相互重复，但只要精心制作，总会有观众。

[16]颇具讽刺意味的是，电视这一媒介有时被指责毁掉了大银幕西部片，却要承担赋予西部片新生机的责任。HBO的电视剧《朽木》和20世纪60年代牛仔们赶尽杀绝的故事一点儿也不同。《朽木》非常黄暴，但剧中刻画了一群耐人寻味的人物，他们建州前居住在小型的采矿定居点。拿人们被迫接受变革这一耳熟能详的主题来说，戴维·米尔希创作的《朽木》对西部片的意义跟《黑道家族》对黑手党题材的意义一样重大。该剧十分现代，未经删减，没有广告，故事线非常完美，角色塑造也能真正展开。

[17]但《朽木》8年前被叫停了，西部片再次退隐到电影世界最偏远的角落。伊斯特伍德说过，他想用《不可饶恕》埋葬西部片。这句话似乎已成现实。 □

There is perhaps no other genre in film so geared towards American sensibilities as the western. While the elements within the western—the good vs. bad, the revenge scenario, or even the tortured loneliness of a hero—can all be translated through different categories of film and to different cultures, it is the setting that makes the western so unique.

[2] Beginning in the silent era, the western captured movie-goers’ imaginations. Quick drawing, white hat good guys battled the mustachioed black hats,all for the love of the swooning heroine and a chance to ride into the black and white sunset. Men like Tom Mix,Hoot Gibson and William S. Hart became icons, churning out quick pictures which all had the same basic plot.

[3] When sound came into play, men like Mix became obsolete. Westerns of the 1930s continued on in much the same vein as the decade before; amiable stars like singing cowboy Roy Rogers starred in mostly forgettable films with titles like “Come on, Rangers.”

[4] It was during the 1950s that the genre found its rhythm, as hard charging, hard living cowboys like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda,and un-macho Jimmy Stewart rode their horses, fought Indians (usually played by white men in makeup) and had a very good time doing it.

[5] By the 1960s, though, it seemed that as a genre, the western had boxed itself into a corner1box作名词可指影院的包厢，也可指影剧院的售票室（通常后接office），作动词指把……围或局限. Television had proven that audiences no longer needed Technicolor and CinemaScope to enjoy cowboys and Indians. TV cowboys were of a slightly different breed; they had to be,as they were now coming into American living rooms on a weekly basis.

[6] The studio system220世纪20年代末到40年代末，好莱坞电影公司的was dying a rapid death; the Hayes Code3海斯法典，得名于Will H. Hays，他于1922年至1945年担任美国电影制片人和发行人协会（Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America，现名Motion Picture Association of America）会长。Hayes Code的正式名称是The Motion Picture Production Code，是美国上世纪前半叶规范影片表现内容的行业性审查体系。was gone,and old school filmmaking was being assaulted on all sides by changing technology, generational shifts in attitudes,and willingness from young filmmakers to push the envelope with different types of storytelling. If not for a few directors, such as Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, the western may have ceased to exist altogether.

[7] The westerns that Leone and Peckinpah made bore little resemblance to the feel-good, rousing epics of decades past. Leone’s “Man with No Name” trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood(who had cut his teeth in the genre as Rowdy Yates in TV’s “Rawhide”)brought the term “Spaghetti Western”into our collective consciousness.

[8] Made on fairly small budgets and using foreign locales, these movies made Eastwood, playing an unlikable anti-hero, an international star. Everything about these movies changed the way audiences viewed westerns. Good and evil were now ambiguous states.Abandoning soundstages, Leone also changed the way the films looked and felt. Gritty, sand swept vistas left people dirty and sweaty. His shooting techniques always maximized tension. In 1968, Leone would craft what is considered his western masterpiece, “Once Upon a Time in the West,” starring Fonda in his first bad guy role.

[9] Peckinpah identi fied with his pro-tagonists, and he gave the scarred, worn out outlaws a human voice. Holden, as Bunch leader Pike Bishop and Robert Ryan, as Deke Thornton, Bishop’s former friend and gang member who now leads the group tracking Bishop down,give their characters believability and gravitas.

[10] As the 1970s dawned, it was clear that most filmmakers had little use for the western genre. The epicenter of filmmaking had shifted; directors were now being trained in theory, and using their suburban and urban upbringings in their storytelling. Fringe directors like Robert Altman were now satirizing Americana instead of taking it at face value with films like “MASH”and “Nashville.” Filmmakers such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola,Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg were beginning to set the tone that would last for another two decades.

[11] Wayne, forever indelible as a cowboy with his cockeyed gait and halting manner of speech, soldiered on,and even the Duke4Duke 美国演员、电影制作人约翰·韦恩的外号。was willing to push himself with his later westerns. “True Grit,” “The Cowboys,” and his last film, “The Shootist,” show Wayne as no longer invincible, as themes of aging,skewed morality, and racism, (albeit mostly under the surface), crept into his later films. It was Eastwood, however,who was most responsible for keeping the western alive during the decade.

[12] These films were decidedly different star making turns than the westerns of the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. While Eastwood’s protagonists mostly came out on top, there was emptiness in many of his victories. His epochal western of the decade was 1976’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” which he directed himself. As Wales, a farmer turned reluctant vigilante5典出作家戴夫·辛普森（Dave Sampson）写过的一本同名小说，于2014年出版。in post-Civil War America,Eastwood stars in a film that is at times a violent, singular revenge story as well as one of the first mainstream westerns to openly deal with the U.S. government’s treatment of American Indians during westward expansion.

[13] It was with Eastwood’s last western, 1992’s “Unforgiven,” in which the genre had both its evolutionary comingout party and its swan song. Winning an Oscar for Eastwood as best director,“Unforgiven” is an unflinching movie, as aging gunslinger William Munny,played by Eastwood, takes one last job as a hired killer. With Morgan Freeman,Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris in the cast, Eastwood made a movie as relentless as the rain falling in the final scene as Munny, who has completely devolved into the killer he once was,rides out into the night—a friendless widower who knows far more about death than life.

[14] It has been more than 20 years since “Unforgiven,” and the western has all but disappeared, and only on occasion is the genre dusted off. The early 1990s saw two dueling variations of Wyatt Earp6Wyatt Earp 美国传奇英雄。, the somber (and painfully slow) “Wyatt Earp” with Costner in the titular role and the much more rousing and entertaining (if not always historically accurate) “Tombstone,” starring Kurt Russell as the Kansas lawman.

[15] Costner’s devotion to the genre was on display again as he directed and starred in 2003’s “Open Range,” which paired him with Robert Duvall (who has been in his share of westerns) and Annette Bening. The gorgeous western vistas, courtesy of cinematographer James Muro, provide the backdrop to a familiar tale, but one that has excellent pace and is told well. Movies often repeat themselves, but there will always be an audience as long as the films themselves are well made.

[16] It is ironic then, that the medium that is sometimes credited with destroying the big screen western—TV—was responsible for breathing new life into the genre. But HBO7= Home Box Office，有线电视网络媒体公司，总部位于美国纽约。HBO电视网于1972年开播，全天候播出电影、音乐、纪录片、体育赛事等娱乐节目。’s “Deadwood”bears no resemblance to any 1960s cowboy shoot ’em up show. Profane,violent and sexualized, “Deadwood”was a fascinating character study of a small mining settlement in a territory that was heading for statehood. Taking the familiar theme of a population on the verge of being forced to accept change, this David Milch show did for the western what“The Sopranos” did for the mafia genre. It was updated, and uncut and without commercials, it allowed for fascinating story arcs and true character development.

[17] But “Deadwood” was cancelled eight years ago, and once again, the western has receded into the farthest corners of the filmmaking world. Eastwood once said that with “Unforgiven,”he wanted to bury the western. It seems those words have indeed come true. ■