A Postmodern Twist to the Western Film Tradition in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by The Coen Brothers

Abstract

Although the Coen brothers had already made films related to the Western genre, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) is a different venture, since they wrote the script of this anthology movie comprising six stories themselves. Besides delving into some of the themes that they have dealt with in their filmography–mortality, ethics, violence, justice, etc.–they also provide the film with a number of postmodern twists that hint at an effort to work through some of the problems posed by the mythology of the American West. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs contains the use of intertextuality across various art forms, a parodic treatment, and the inclusion of unusual perspectives that are all typical of postmodern aesthetics and politics of representation.

Aunque los hermanos Coen ya habían dirigido películas del Oeste, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) es un proyecto diferente ya que ellos mismos escribieron el guión de este Western episódico dividido en seis tramas distintas. Además de seguir indagando en algunos de los temas que los Coen ya habían tocado en su filmografía–la mortalidad, la ética, la violencia, la justicia, etc.–este filme incorpora una serie de giros postmodernos que revelan un interés por explorar algunos de los problemas que la mitología del Oeste americano plantea. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs incluye rasgos como el uso de la intertextualidad entre diferentes formas artísticas, toques paródicos, y la inclusión de perspectivas alternativas, todos típicos de la corriente postmodernista.