Riding East—Western Myths, Nostalgia, and the Crossing of Generic Boundaries in Hidalgo (2004)

in recent years, several scholarly works (e.g., Broughton; Johnson et al.; Mitchell) have revisited one of the oldest genres in film history—the Western—to examine its lasting appeal and its ability to reinvent itself through hybridization with other genres. However, when genre hybridization is considered, research often focuses on so-called weird hybrids1 (see Green; Johnson et al.) or “darker” varieties such as noir and crime fiction crossovers (e.g., Mitchell or Monticone). Joe Johnston’s Hidalgo (2004) is unusual in this context, and its ambiguous reception at the time of its release highlights some of the problems that arise when genre conventions are taken too much at face value. A closer analysis of the film, therefore, might demonstrate the value of looking beyond obvious genre tropes toward wider cinematic trends. While Hidalgo was largely dismissed by critics reading it as a Western, I will argue that the film is better understood as part of the revival of spectacular epic cinema at the turn of the millennium, appearing alongside a number of epic films that explored, broadly speaking, a clash of cultures through mythic-historic narratives.2 As such, the film adds another dimension to current debates about the Western, as Hidalgo’s nostalgic-ironic reframing of traditional Western tropes together with elements of the epic and the adventure film offers a contemporary mash-up of myths that reflects the global audiences at which it is aimed. As Johnson et al. note, “one of the distinctive features of the western” is perhaps that it can “form unexpected combinations with other genres,” creating odd resonances between those genres (2). Through its playful engagement with the Western, Hidalgo not only offers a novel hybrid and an entertaining spectacle; its self-conscious play with generic conventions also can help us to critically assess the Western’s most iconic features. Hidalgo portrays the journey of rundown Western rider Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) and his mustang Hidalgo, who participate in a spectacular race across the Arabian Desert. Yet it is also a journey of self-discovery that highlights contemporary concerns about identity, ethnicity, and class as it reshapes traditional Western patterns. As noted previously, I suggest that Hidalgo is better understood in the context of several blockbuster epics that appeared in the same period and explored the conflict between Western and non-Western ideals. For example, Ridley Scott’s Alexander (dir. 2004) featured, among other things, the eastward conquest of the ancient Macedonian king, while Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy (2004) showed the conflict between the nation-states of Greece and the Eastern people of Troy. The 2004 version of King Arthur (dir. Antoine Fuqua) reframes the Riding East—Western Myths, Nostalgia, and the Crossing of Generic Boundaries in Hidalgo (2004)