--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The 'Western' is the only genre whose…" description: "\"The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.\" — Andre Bazin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg" --- # The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost… ![“The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.” quote by Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg) > “The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.” [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Western genre developed almost simultaneously with the birth of cinema, sharing origins and early influences. **In simple terms:** Western films and cinema grew together from the same roots. Key Takeaway Recognize the shared history of Westerns and film. Themes genre history cinema culture development influence Mood historical analytical Type educational scholarly When to use this quote - film studies - movie production - historical analysis - genre criticism Key Concepts film theory genre evolution early cinema Questions to Reflect On - What early films influenced the Western genre? - How did technology affect Western storytelling? A Different Perspective Some argue other genres also shaped early cinema. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre/) [Genre Origins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre-origins-4591075/) [Identical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identical/) [Identical Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identical-cinema-5368817/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [Western Genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western-genre-662107/) ## Related quotes > ['New' movies are almost always hipper, faster, they mix genres aggressively, they smother their genre origins in new form, there are fewer of them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hunter/new-movies-are-almost-always-hipper-faster-they-mix-genres/) [Stephen Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hunter/) > [I didn't grow up a huge fan of the Western genre because there was never a female character to relate to or look up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haley-bennett/i-didn-t-grow-up-a-huge-fan-of-the-western-genre-because-there-was/) [Haley Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haley-bennett/) > [The spaghetti Western genre is definitely one of favorites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rza/the-spaghetti-western-genre-is-definitely-one-of-favorites/) [Rza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rza/) > [I've grown up watching a lot of Western genre films on TV, and America is not just a country, but it's one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-chan-wook/i-ve-grown-up-watching-a-lot-of-western-genre-films-on-tv-and-america/) [Park Chan-wook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-chan-wook/) > [The Western genre is certainly something with which I'm familiar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-carradine/the-western-genre-is-certainly-something-with-which-i-m-familiar/) [Keith Carradine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-carradine/) > [ The story \[for the western genre\] is everything. Whether it's a book or a screenplay, the story drives everything. And if you just go… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/the-story-for-the-western-genre-is-everything-whether-it-s-a-book-or/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [The reason why I always wanted to make an American film was because of the Western genre. It is something that I would very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-chan-wook/the-reason-why-i-always-wanted-to-make-an-american-film-was-because/) [Park Chan-wook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-chan-wook/) > [As much as I love the Western genre, I figured if I kept doing those, I'd eventually run out of steam on that, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/as-much-as-i-love-the-western-genre-i-figured-if-i-kept-doing-those-i/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [I like the Western genre, I think it's uniquely American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-carradine/i-like-the-western-genre-i-think-it-s-uniquely-american/) [Keith Carradine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-carradine/) > [I think there have been more movies in the Western genre than any other. I grew up watching those movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-selleck/i-think-there-have-been-more-movies-in-the-western-genre-than-any/) [Tom Selleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-selleck/) > [The four movies I can remember seeing as a kid were 'The Elephant Man,' 'The Magnificent Seven,' 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-affleck/the-four-movies-i-can-remember-seeing-as-a-kid-were-the-elephant-man/) [Casey Affleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-affleck/) > [I'm a fan of the western genre. When I see a character actor, I see a whole movie behind a scene before and after.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-verbinski/i-m-a-fan-of-the-western-genre-when-i-see-a-character-actor-i-see-a/) [Gore Verbinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-verbinski/) > [It seems like the Western genre has crept out of its casings during the last few years, and expanded to include books and movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-crook/it-seems-like-the-western-genre-has-crept-out-of-its-casings-during/) [Elizabeth Crook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-crook/) > [Eventually I would like to touch all the genres. I would like to do some detective stories, and I want to do a Western.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-aragones/eventually-i-would-like-to-touch-all-the-genres-i-would-like-to-do/) [Sergio Aragones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-aragones/) > [When someone talks about Western films, you probably think of those old black and white cowboy films your granddad likes. But the Western is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lawrence/when-someone-talks-about-western-films-you-probably-think-of-those/) [Caroline Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lawrence/) ## More by Andre Bazin > [All films are born free and equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/all-films-are-born-free-and-equal/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Photography does not create eternity, as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-does-not-create-eternity-as-art-does-it-embalms-time/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Today we can say that at last the director writes the film. The image--its plastic composition and the way it is set in time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/today-we-can-say-that-at-last-the-director-writes-the-film-the-image/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [A very faithful drawing may actually tell us more about the model but despite the promptings of our critical intelligence it will never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/a-very-faithful-drawing-may-actually-tell-us-more-about-the-model-but/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [How has The Grand Illusion held up over the years? It is not enough to say that it has retained its power. Not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/how-has-the-grand-illusion-held-up-over-the-years-it-is-not-enough-to/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [The essential factor in the transition of the baroque to photography is not the perfecting of a physical process... rather does it lie in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-essential-factor-in-the-transition-of-the-baroque-to-photography/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [ The photographer proceeds, via the intermediary of the lens, to a point where he literally takes a luminous imprint, a cast... \[But\] the cinema… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-photographer-proceeds-via-the-intermediary-of-the-lens-to-a-point/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-has-freed-the-plastic-arts-from-their-obsession-with/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [ \[The photograph\] is the object itself... \[It\] shares, by virtue of the very process of its becoming, the being of the model of which… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-photograph-is-the-object-itself-it-shares-by-virtue-of-the-very/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [All the arts are based on the presence of man, only photography derives an advantage from his absence. Photography affects us like a phenomenon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/all-the-arts-are-based-on-the-presence-of-man-only-photography/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Every image is to be seen as an object and every object as an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/every-image-is-to-be-seen-as-an-object-and-every-object-as-an-image/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Photography can strip from the world that spiritual dust and grime with which our eyes have covered it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/photography-can-strip-from-the-world-that-spiritual-dust-and-grime/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) [Explore all 13 Andre Bazin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) ## More Cinema quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [You have to have a great director to make a great movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/you-have-to-have-a-great-director-to-make-a-great-movie/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [I love film people and actors and I am in the right world because I am one of those people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-film-people-and-actors-and-i-am-in-the-right-world-because-i/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/i-d-love-to-work-in-the-states-i-d-love-to-work-anywhere-where-you/) [Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > ['Rear Window' isn't really a horror film, but it is a psychological drama, which I love. It is very tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-silvers/rear-window-isn-t-really-a-horror-film-but-it-is-a-psychological/) [Diana Silvers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-silvers/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) [Jessica Yu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-yu/) > [I am not interested in churning out a certain number of films every year. For me, it's about the quality of work. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepika-padukone/i-am-not-interested-in-churning-out-a-certain-number-of-films-every/) [Deepika Padukone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepika-padukone/) [Browse all 23,940 Cinema quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Bazin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-origins-are-almost-identical-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cinema" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-origins-are-almost-identical-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/andre-bazin-36481_cinema_the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-orig_1476155.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.” — Andre Bazin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andre Bazin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The 'Western' is the only genre...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-origins-are-almost-identical-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/the-western-is-the-only-genre-whose-origins-are-almost-identical-with/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```