Review of Unforgiven (1992) by Stuart P — 30 Jul 2011

Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN [1992]: "UNFORGIVEN delivers us a message about the nature of violence, that violence corrupts the soul and everyone is haunted by the realisation that the price of death never gets paid" -from an interview with Morgan Freeman in the 2002 documentary ALL ON ACCOUNTA PULLIN' A TRIGGER.

WESTERN REVIEW MONTH.

WEEK FIVE: THE CLINT EASTWOOD WESTERN REVIEW WEEKEND.

Day Two UNFORGIVEN [1992] Ever since the first American Western was made and realised in 1903 (THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY) the frontier of the 19th century American West was always heavily romanticised on the silver screen. But by the time of the emergence of the revisionists Westerns, the views and attitudes by the filmmakers towards that romantic glaze to the Old West had changed. In 1992 when a script by David Webb Peoples was to be brought to the big screen by legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood , the layers of romanticism towards The Old West were pulled back to portray a dark and more historically accurate view of the Western frontier.

In the film UNFORGIVEN Eastwood paints a direr and bleak picture of Old West with and underlying message of the effects of violence upon people and the treatment of women in the Old west. It shouldn't come as a surprise that this film won four Oscars, including the Best Picture Award which I believe was much deserved for this film, in the very last instalment of my month long look at western what better way to finish the month with the truly brilliant UNFORGIVEN.

THE PLOTLINE.

On one stormy night in a brothel in the town of Big Whiskey, Wyoming in the 1880's a pair of cowboys brutally cut up a young prostitutes face for no real reason. The real trouble arises when the matter of punishment by the Towns Sheriff Little Bill (Gene Hackman) who originally had plan to give the two culprits a flogging decide a payment of several pony's to the brothel's owner is more than fair for compensation for 'Damaged Property". This of course enrages the head of the brothels prostitutes in that proper punishment hasn't been handed out by Little Bill. The prostitutes decide that a much more harsh punishment should be handed out for that sadistic attack upon one their own. A Bounty of $1,000 dollars will be pay to the man that kills the men that attacked the young woman.

Meanwhile on some impoverished pig farm in the middle of now were an aging man called William Munny (Clint Eastwood) and his two children are visited by a young gunman calling himself The Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett). Upon talking to Munny, The Kid reviles his plan to go on the Bounty issued by the Prostitutes in Big Whiskey and wants Munny to be his partner after hearing about his days as a Notorious Outlaw in his Youth. But after marrying his late wife who cured him of his wicked ways, Munny is very reluctant to do so. Due to the poverty he and his children are living in Munny decides that going on the bounty hunt will give some financial relief to his family. Munny rides to the home of his old friend Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) in the need of some help with taking on the bounty for the two cowboys. Upon meeting up with The Schofield Kid both Munny and Ned are shocked to discover that the young man has sight problems but regardless continues for the town of Big Whiskey.

Meanwhile back in the town of Big Whiskey when a famous gunman called English Bob (Richard Harris) and his Biographer W.W Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) arrive in the town to go on the bounty. When Little Bill and his deputies discover firearms upon Bob (after ignoring the town's bylaw of gun control) Little Bill savagely beats up Bob before throwing him in the cells, with W.W. After kicking Bob out the next day, W.W sticks around after being told about Bob's past by Little Bill and starts to work on a pulp Biography of little Bill. By now Will Munny, Ned Logan and the Schofield Kid arrive in Big Whiskey to talk to the Brothels ladies about the Cowboys. After Munny meets the same savage beating as English Bob, the group wait on the outskirts of the town to wait for Will to regain his strength before going out on the assassination of the Two Cowboys.

After killing the first Cowboy, Ned is horrified by the horrific death that stirs up the ghost of the past and decides to leave. After the next killing of the final Cowboy, both Will and The Kid are horrified after being told by one of the ladies of the Brothel who brings the reward money about how Little Bill after the first killing brutally beat up Ned to get the information about the group before dying and being put on display in front of the Brothel. The Kid after shooting the second Cowboy can't face the fact that he shot a man and decides to leave Will who now knows what's going to happen next. On one stormy night in the same brothel, Little Bill gathers most of the men to celebrate the capture of Ned when Munny enters the saloon with a loaded gun. This leads to one of the most truly great climaxes in the western genre and reminds us how violet acts of the past can never be forgiven.

THE ACTING, THE DIRECTION, AND THE WRITING.

UNFORGIVEN has some truly brilliant performances by the entire cast, but the real stand outs are the performances by the main cast. Clint Eastwood portrays William Munny as once violent man tormented by his past of brutal killings. After a string of iconic violent characters Eastwood has portrayed in other films prior to UNFORGIVEN, it almost seems like Eastwood shows a side to all of those characters that the audiences never saw, regret in old age of their pasts in the form of William Munny. Gene Hackman won an Oscar for his performance as Little Bill and with Oscar winning performances some do sadly become dated but with Hackman's Performance it still holds up close to 20 years on. With Morgan Freeman as Ned Logan well come on how couldn't you like Morgan Freeman as an actor? After some heart-warming performances in other great films (i.e. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) Freeman's presences becomes a welcome rock in an otherwise bleak film.

Clint Eastwood as a Director is one of the finest and UNFORGIVEN is by far one of his masterpieces. When it comes to an Eastwood directed Western, Eastwood doesn't paint a romantic view of the old West (like films of John Ford and Howard Hawks) or delivers a mournful view of the eras passing (like the Westerns of Sam Peckinpah) or even a grand operatic vision of the West (like the man responsible for Eastwood's carrier, Sergio Leone), instead Eastwood debunks everything glamorous of the American West and replaces it with a more historically accurate view of the time. In the eyes of an Eastwood Western the Old West becomes the same as every other period of Human civilization brutal, violent and filled with problems.

With the screenplay by David Webb Peoples gives an unfaltering view of the old west, how un-glorified it is to see a person dying, how women were treated in the past and more interestingly how the romantic gloss to the old west was formed thanks to one secondary character of W.W Beauchamp. Mr Beauchamp in one scene in the cells is having his pulp biography of English Bob being cruelly insulted by Little Bill (who points out the illustration the cover the book is no different than the writing in the book, overtly romanticised). Then Little Bill reviles in one particular part of the book his work is a tone of lies by revealing how Little Bill was in the same room the so-called events of the book were taking place. Then he proceed to tell Mr Beauchamp what really happen before eventually, Beauchamp starts to most likely write another tacky pulp story about Little Bill. What this scene hint's at his how romantic tall- tales of 'The Wild West" became myths in modern pop-culture via pulp stories, newspaper articles and movies that promoted the romantic view of the old West in the first place.

Overall UNFORGIVEN is without a doubt one of the finest westerns of all time, one of the best films of the 1990's and of course one of the Best films of all time. UNFORGIVEN is a perfect film that's message goes beyond the genre that killing isn't always the answer when it comes down to it. My rating for this film is a much deserved 100% for this great film.