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Arena

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The gold standard for arts documentaries, from 1975 to the present day. A cultural map of the world’s greatest artists and musicians, as captured by exceptional film-makers.

Arena: Buffalo Bill's Wild West: How the Myth Was Made

19/12/2003

Buffalo Bill's Wild West: How the Myth Was Made

BBC Four - Arena, Buffalo Bill's Wild West: How the Myth Was Made

Dramatic reconstruction and archive footage recreates the life of the Wild West showman.

Dramatic reconstruction and archive footage recreates the life of the American Wild West showman and mythmaker, Buffalo Bill.

The western movie, the cowboy novel, the rodeo and the wild west show are all means by which the West has become mythologised, distorted, caricatured and made larger than life.

The West no longer lives in reality, only in the world of the imagination, but the key figure in the historical process whereby the factual, historical West was transformed into the 'Western myth' was William Frederick 'Buffalo Bill' Cody. It was within his persona that the raw material of experience was transformed into showbusiness.

This documentary tells Buffalo Bill's story, including his life as a Pony Express rider, prairie scout, buffalo hunter and wild west show creator.

With rock legend David Johansen as the voice of Buffalo Bill, Arena uses drama and unique archive of the real Buffalo Bill to tell an extraordinary tale with strangely contemporary resonance.

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