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

文/C. J. 佩里 譯/董璐璐 審訂/常玉田

By C. J. Perry

或許沒有哪個電影流派能比西部片更適合表達美國人的情感。西部片中的許多元素——善惡之爭、復仇場景，甚至備受孤獨煎熬的主角——都能在其他類型的電影中見到，在其他文化中也有反映，但西部片之所以獨樹一幟，原因在于電影背景。

[2]自默片時代起，西部片就抓住了電影觀眾的想象力。簡言之，戴白帽的好人對陣蓄胡的黑帽壞蛋，為了追求迷人的女主角的愛，為了有機會騎著馬在黑白分明的背景中奔向日落。湯姆·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節相似的電影。

[3]后來電影有了聲音，米克斯這群人就過時了。20世紀30年代的西部片仍然延續了10年前的風格；唱歌牛仔羅伊·羅杰斯這樣平易近人的明星，出演了一些大多反響不大的電影，比如《來吧，流浪者》。

[4] 20世紀50年代，約翰·韋恩、加里·庫珀、亨利·方達以及不那么威猛的吉米·斯圖爾特等性格剛強、生活艱苦的牛仔們騎著馬，與印第安人（通常由白人化裝出演）打斗且樂在其中——這時，西部片才找到自己的節奏。

[6]電影制片廠這一制作模式很快就沒什么人采用了，“海斯法典”也廢除了。電影制作技術有了長足的發展，每一代電影人的觀念都不相同，年輕一代的制片人有意沖破藩籬，用不同的方法講故事——這些給老派的電影制作帶來了全方位沖擊。要不是出現了賽爾喬·萊昂內和薩姆·佩金帕等幾位導演，西部片可能就此消失了。

[7]之前幾十年的西部片有著令人愉悅、振奮的宏大敘事，而萊昂內和佩金法導演的西部片與此大相徑庭。萊昂內的《無名客》三部曲由克林特·伊斯特伍德（他第一次出演西部片是在電視劇《皮鞭》中飾演羅迪·耶茨）主演，將“意大利式西部片”的概念引入我們的集體意識。

[8]這類電影預算比較小，使用異國場景，而伊斯特伍德扮演著不討人喜歡的反派角色成了國際明星。這類電影改變了觀眾看待西部片的方式。善惡的界限已經模糊。萊昂內不再使用錄音棚，也改變了電影的面貌和觀感。電影中各種飛沙走石的場景，人們灰頭土臉、汗流浹背。他總是運用拍攝技巧把緊張感最大化。1968年，萊昂內拍攝了公認的西部片杰作《西部往事》，主演方達第一次飾演反面角色。

[9]佩金法同情他片中的主人公們，讓那些傷痕累累的不法之徒發出人的呼聲。（在電影《日落黃沙》中，）霍爾登飾演強盜首領派克·畢曉普，羅伯特·瑞安飾演德凱·桑頓。桑頓原來是畢曉普的朋友，也是幫派成員，如今帶領著幫派同伴追擊畢曉普。他們的表演賦予了角色可信度和厚重感。

[10]進入70年代后，大部分制片人顯然都不愿采用西部片這一題材。電影制作的主流已然轉變；導演們都是學過理論的人，講的多是自己在城郊和城市長大成人的故事。邊緣導演羅伯特·奧爾特曼描述“美利堅帝國”不再局限于表面，而是借《陸軍野戰醫院》和《納什維爾》等作品諷刺這個帝國。喬治·盧卡斯、弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉、馬丁·斯科塞斯和史蒂文·斯皮爾伯格等電影制作人開始執掌影壇，他們定下的基調在隨后20年大行其道。

[11]約翰·韋恩扮演的步態不穩、說話吞吐的牛仔形象深入人心。這位素有“公爵”之稱的明星非常努力，之后拍了許多西部片。從他后期主演的電影，比如《大地驚雷》《牛仔們》以及他的最后一部電影《神槍手》，可以看出韋恩不再不可戰勝，衰老、道德扭曲和種族歧視（盡管大多隱于表層之下）逐漸成為影片主題。倒是伊斯特伍德，是西部片在70年代保持生機的一大功臣。

[12]與40年代到60年代的西部片相比，70年代的造星方式發生了顯著變化。伊斯特伍德片中的主人公大多最后獲得成功，但他本人的成功之中很多伴有空虛缺憾。1976年他自導自演的《不法之徒邁·韋爾斯》（又譯《西部執法者》）是一部劃時代的西部片。他飾演的韋爾斯是一個農民，內戰后很不情愿地當了警員。這部電影有時可以看作一個單槍匹馬暴力復仇的故事，也是第一批公開討論美國政府在西進運動中屠殺印第安人的主流西部片之一。

[13] 1992年的《不可饒恕》是伊斯特伍德導演的最后一部西部片。這部電影既是西部片演進的亮相之作，也成了這一類型片的絕唱。伊斯特伍德憑借《不可饒恕》獲得了奧斯卡最佳導演獎。該片是一部以絕不妥協為主題的電影，伊斯特伍德在片中飾演的威廉·曼尼是一個老槍手，最后一次受雇殺人。摩根·弗里曼、吉恩·哈克曼和理查德·哈里斯均參演了該片。影片主人公曼尼沒有朋友，妻子已故，比起活著他更了解死亡。影片的殘酷如同最后一幕那無情的大雨，曼尼重操舊業，再度徹底淪為殺手，在雨中騎著馬奔進夜色。

最后是比喻修辭格的使用。這是一處明喻。將妻子比作棋子，二者有“被困、被限制”的共同點，表現了妻子被生活、被思念圍困的狀態。此處以比喻之手法，寫盡妻子想掙脫生活現狀而不得的無力之感，這是千百年來所有囿于世俗將全身心的希望都寄予了丈夫借以改變自身處境的妻子的境遇。

[14]《不可饒恕》上映距今已20多年，西部片幾近消失，只是偶爾重現人們視野。20世紀90年代初，有兩部關于懷亞特·厄普的作品面世，對比強烈：一部是憂郁（且拖沓）的《懷亞特·厄普》，由科斯特納出演；另一部是更加振奮有趣（雖說有些情節不一定合乎史實）的《墓碑鎮》，庫爾特·拉塞爾飾演堪薩斯州的治安官懷亞特·厄普。

[15] 2003年，科斯特納執導并主演了電影《天地無限》，再次展現出他對西部片的熱愛。他因此得以與羅伯特·杜瓦爾（一直在西部片中占有一席之地）和安妮特·貝寧比肩。攝影師詹姆斯·穆羅技藝精湛，拍攝出優美的西部風光，人們熟悉的傳奇故事就在這里上演，而不同的是影片節奏流暢，故事也講得成功。電影情節經常相互重復，但只要精心制作，總會有觀眾。

[16]頗具諷刺意味的是，電視這一媒介有時被指責毀掉了大銀幕西部片，卻要承擔賦予西部片新生機的責任。HBO的電視劇《朽木》和20世紀60年代牛仔們趕盡殺絕的故事一點兒也不同?！缎嗄尽贩浅｜S暴，但劇中刻畫了一群耐人尋味的人物，他們建州前居住在小型的采礦定居點。拿人們被迫接受變革這一耳熟能詳的主題來說，戴維·米爾希創作的《朽木》對西部片的意義跟《黑道家族》對黑手黨題材的意義一樣重大。該劇十分現代，未經刪減，沒有廣告，故事線非常完美，角色塑造也能真正展開。

[17]但《朽木》8年前被叫停了，西部片再次退隱到電影世界最偏遠的角落。伊斯特伍德說過，他想用《不可饒恕》埋葬西部片。這句話似乎已成現實。 □

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作名詞可指影院的包廂，也可指影劇院的售票室（通常后接office），作動詞指把……圍或局限. 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世紀20年代末到40年代末，好萊塢電影公司的was dying a rapid death; the Hayes Code3海斯法典，得名于Will H. Hays，他于1922年至1945年擔任美國電影制片人和發行人協會（Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America，現名Motion Picture Association of America）會長。Hayes Code的正式名稱是The Motion Picture Production Code，是美國上世紀前半葉規范影片表現內容的行業性審查體系。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 美國演員、電影制作人約翰·韋恩的外號。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）寫過的一本同名小說，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 美國傳奇英雄。, 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，有線電視網絡媒體公司，總部位于美國紐約。HBO電視網于1972年開播，全天候播出電影、音樂、紀錄片、體育賽事等娛樂節目?！痵 “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. ■