Rent Unforgiven (1992)

Revisionism At It's Best - Unforgiven review by GI

Clint Eastwood's overwhelmingly brilliant revisionist western that completely deconstructs the myth narrative of this uniquely American genre. From the opening shot this is a beautiful picture to watch and an enormously clever story. Eastwood stars as Will Munny, a poor pig farmer, widower and father of two young children. When he hears that there's a bounty being offered to kill two cowboys for cutting a prostitute he decides he needs the money and teams up with his old friend Ned (Morgan Freeman) and a young man who claims to be a gunfighter (Jaimez Woolvett) to go and kill the two men. Years ago Will was a reputedly a merciless killer, a life he spurned after meeting his late wife and now he has to struggle to keep his old vicious temper at bay especially as he has to encounter the nasty sheriff, Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman). The script delves into how legend and word of mouth stories become warped and romantic in the telling whereas the truth is often much more sordid and violent. This is a story of ruthless men but, unlike the westerns of previous years, these have no code, no honour and are violent by nature rather than need. There are no fair play gunfights this is a story of cold blooded murder. Eastwood, who won the Best Director Oscar and was nominated for Best Actor, is remarkable here and Hackman (winner of Best Supporting Actor) along with Richard Harris as an egotistical killer makes for a great cast. Eastwood's contribution to the western genre is to be applauded and this is his finest achievement in relation to deconstructing the genre. This is a film that deserved the Best Film Oscar, it's a masterpiece and deserves a modern audience. If you've never seen this then I really urge you to seek it out, you will not be disappointed.

Good old shoot 'em up cowboy film - Unforgiven review by JD

Clint plays a complex character (for a cowboy film that is). He had been a serial killer in his youth to put Shipman in the shade. His wife however had changed his personality into a humble and reclusive farmer. For the good of his children however he goes back to his old ways to get some money.

Not an endearing person you might think, but of course Clint is not only the goodie but imparts a strong visual odour of heroism. Richard Harris plays the English loser whose legend is discredited and who is kicked into the dirt by the sheriff (an American type-cast in my opinion).

Nevertheless I definitely walked away at the end of the film a foot taller. It is not clever but it feels good.

Masterpiece - Unforgiven review by sb

FILM & REWATCH A welcome rewatch for Eastwoods masterpiece which is just one of the best Westerns ever made. Sure we all the know the story so just going to pick on some observational points. Love the pacing - although you know the finale will be one of bloody violence Eastwood takes his time in building the characters, narrative and astmosphere. The way he keeps maintaining he isn’t the same man any more you know someone like him can never escape their past. I love how it’s undermines the mythology of the Western - at the end of Liberty Vallance we are told if you have the facts and the legend - print the legend - but this reverses this using the naive author to highlight that there nothing noble about gunning down another man and the mud and the rain and the gloomy interiors all enhance this. You can see it as a feminist western where women are there to be used and no one cares if things get ugly so they take matters into their own hands to seek retribution. Eastwoods regular cinematographer Jack Green underlights the interior shots with a counterpoint to the glorious landscape and won an Oscar for it. The performances are superb - Eastwood underplays until the finale with fine support from Freeman and Harris with Hackman giving one of his best roles as the brutal lawman. David People’s script is equally excellent managing to see a final moral undercurrent to all the brutality……it really is a superb film - 5/5