Traumatic Memory and Heroism in the Transnational Spaghetti Western

"Spaghetti westerns," a broad subgenre of western films, produced primarily by European production companies and often filmed in Spain or Italy, reached the height of their popularity in the late 1960s and early '70s. Often perceived to be Italian, the Spanish contribution frequently goes unrecognized or is only tangentially mentioned despite the fact that most of these films were shot in Spain, and included many Spanish actors, producers, writers, directors, extras, and other technical personnel. I reevaluate the Spanish contribution to these films and see them as truly transnational products that represent concerns common to both countries. Through an analysis of trauma, revenge, violence, silence, and the pursuit of wealth in the "heroes" of Django (Corbucci, 1966), The Good the Bad and the Ugly (Leone, 1966), and Death Rides a Horse (Petroni, 1967), this study shows how Italy and Spain's status as "postwar" nations in the throes of rapid economic modernization is primary for understanding representations of heroism—and more often anti-heroism—in these films. War and its aftermath, in both Italy and Spain, is considered the psychological backdrop for the withdrawn, violent heroes who seek revenge for past wrongs, seemingly haunted by the "ghosts" of death and destruction that inform their psychic and physical landscapes. Spaghetti western heroes' incessant, wandering struggle may be indicative of the male individual's encounter with his own weakness, as well as a performative resignification of encounters with the abject.