Few genres are directly linked to one country as the western is connected to America. Traditionally, they were made in America, about America, and for a primarily American audience, but from the 1960s onwards, that started to change. The sub-genre of spaghetti westerns showed that great westerns could be made in Europe by non-American directors that rivaled what came from America. From there, it was only a matter of time before directors of all nationalities had a go at tackling the genre.

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Most recently, Jane Campion's The Power Of The Dog has renewed interest in the genre. Campion herself is from New Zealand and, through her latest film, has presented a new angle to the western genre, earning numerous awards and a great deal of critical acclaim in the process. While many iconic westerns come from American directors, it's worth showing how the genre can transcend the traditional American western.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)

Good Bad Ugly

Not the first spaghetti western - but arguably the best - Italian director Sergio Leone's epic western follows three individuals searching for hidden treasure in the middle of the American Civil War. It's as much a western as it is an adventure, war, and even buddy comedy film, and features one of the best climaxes in film history.

RELATED: Movies That End With an Epic StalemateSergio Leone managed to tackle the genre on a scale that wasn't seen before and hasn't been since. Employing hundreds of extras and some amazingly huge outdoor sets, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is a beautiful film, with three iconic lead performances and incredible music from composer Ennio Morricone to boot.

The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant

Don't let all the snow fool you. The Revenant, from Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, is still a western, thanks to the period it's set in and its themes, most notably those concerning ideas of honor, lawlessness, and vengeance.

Far more notable than just being that movie where a bear attacks Leonardo DiCaprio, or the movie that finally got DiCaprio an Oscar after many snubs, The Revenant is a gritty, disturbing, but also quite beautiful revenge-western. It takes those familiar western themes and pushes them to their limits, being particularly dark and grisly to watch in parts. But this could be the one for anyone burnt out on traditional sun-drenched desert settings who still wants to watch a western.

The Proposition (2005)

The Proposition

In the 2000s, westerns were pretty out of fashion, so Australian director John Hillcoat saw an opportunity to revitalize the genre with The Proposition. Notable for having a screenplay written by famed Australian musician Nick Cave, The Proposition deals with crime and revenge in the late 19th century Australian outback, a setting as dry and as ruthless as any American desert.

The Proposition is another attempt to push the western genre further in terms of grit and violence, and it makes for a good watch for any viewer with a decently strong stomach. Featuring a great cast that includes Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, and John Hurt, it stands as one of the best non-American westerns of the 21st century.

The Great Silence (1968)

Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence in The Great Silence
Image via 20th Century Fox

Potentially one of the bleakest westerns ever made, The Great Silence also stands as perhaps the best spaghetti western not directed by Sergio Leone. Instead, it was directed by another Italian director (and fellow Sergio) Sergio Corbucci, and tells the story of a lone, mute gunman struggling to protect a small town from a group of bounty hunters in the middle of a brutally cold winter.

Corbucci is perhaps best known for directing the original Django (which would help inspire one of Quentin Tarantino's best films, Django Unchained, of course), but The Great Silence stands as his best western. With two fantastic performances from French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant in the lead and German actor Klaus Kinski as the chillingly sociopathic main villain, The Great Silence is a downbeat and powerful western. Leone's frequent collaborator Ennio Morricone also does the score here, too, which adds tremendously to the melancholic mood of this cold, brilliant film.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008)

The Good The Bad The Weird

It's no secret that The Good, The Bad, The Weird - from South Korean director Kim Jee-woon - is borrowing from Sergio Leone's iconic The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. It's right there in the title, and shortly into its runtime, it's pretty clear the premise is similar, too, with another plot involving hidden treasure and three eccentric characters who will do whatever it takes to find it.

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However, The Good, The Bad, The Weird is far from a direct remake. It takes the basic premise and goes wild with a story that's more outwardly comedic, action-packed, and fast-paced. It's overwhelming in the best way possible, being a ridiculously entertaining blast from start to finish. The lead performances are all great too, especially from Song Kang-ho (a favorite of director Bong Joon-ho, and the lead actor in Parasite), whose energy and charisma match the similar role played by Eli Wallach ("The Ugly") in Leone's 1966 original.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Brokeback Mountain

Arguably more of a romantic drama than your standard western, Brokeback Mountain still has a western setting, and stars Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger as cowboys. An American production, but directed by Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee (who's found success in directing movies in both Asia and Hollywood), it tells the story of two men unexpectedly falling in love at a time and in a place where that was highly taboo.

With a deliberately slow pace, a focus on characters, and an emphasis on relationships between people over action scenes, Brokeback Mountain does have some surface-level similarities to The Power Of The Dog. Like Campion's film, it was also a critically acclaimed awards contender, and endures over 15 years later as an emotional, romantic western, and one of the best showcases for the late Heath Ledger's fantastic acting talents.

El Topo (1970)

A man riding on horseback through the desert in El Topo (1970)
Image via ABKCO Films

One of Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky's most well-known films, El Topo earns its reputation for being one of the most psychedelic and bizarre westerns of all time. At its most basic level, it has an almost impossible-to-describe plot, involving a gunslinger and his son traveling through a desert and encountering strange characters and sights.

More concerned with being a stylistic experience than having a discernible story, El Topo is undoubtedly one of the most unusual westerns to ever earn a decent amount of fame (or infamy). The surreal tone, brutal violence, and disturbing imagery won't appeal to all western fans, but it stands as an example of how far the genre can be taken in such an unexpected direction. As far from John Wayne or even Clint Eastwood as westerns can get, El Topo more than earns its reputation as an "acid western."

Bacurau (2019)

Bacurau

Bacurau is a film by Brazilian directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles which mixes up a whole heap of genres into one wild and unpredictable film, one of those genres being western. It can arguably be defined as a "weird western," a sub-genre of westerns that mixes horror, science-fiction, or fantasy elements with western tropes and traditions.

As such, Bacurau is hard to describe plot-wise, and part of the fun of watching it comes from not knowing which unexpected turn it's going to take next. It's a bold and brutal western-hybrid that stands distinct - even amongst other westerns that are offbeat or unusual - and is all but destined to become a cult film some years from now.

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