Unforgiven (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
Producer/Director/Actor Clint Eastwood's violent & complex 1992 tale of revenge & justice in the Old West, 'Unforgiven', triumphed as only the 3rd film of its genre to win the Academy Award for Best Picture {funny enough, Dances with Wolves won just 2 yrs. prior}. It also wins Best Director (Eastwood), Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman, Best Film Editing, & was nominated for 5 other categories elsewhere. Eastwood's reputation as a Hollywood icon was born from 2 distinct roles: The Man with No Name {from Sergio Leone's 1960s "Spaghetti Westerns" - A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, & The Good, the Bad and the Ugly} & "Dirty Harry" {who made 5 showings from the 1971-1988's The Dead Pool}.
Dirty Harry could be viewed as the embodiment of violence-without-consequences. 'Unforgiven', however, approaches barbarity & death from a viewpoint, emphasizing that there are permanent consequences to violence. 'Unforgiven' looks like a Western ... but doesn't exactly feel like one. The violence is savage, the sheriff isn't the 'good guy', & the plot is steeped in moral ambiguities. The story opens in 1881 with 2 narrative threads that will eventually intersect. Big Whiskey is your typical frontier town with a saloon, a whorehouse, a barbershop, an undertaker, et al. The town is overseen with an iron-fist by Sheriff 'Little Bill' Daggett (Gene Hackman), who is principled by the law, but has a sadistic streak.
One fateful day, a drunk, irate cowboy repeatedly slashes a prostitute named Delilah (Anna Thomson) across her face. Little Bill deals out his slap-on-the-wrist punishment: the attacker must pay the prostitute's handler a number of horses {big whoop!}. There is no prison time, no whipping, & no restitution to the lacerated woman. Her brothel co-workers pool their funds & send-out the word that they'll pay $1,000 to the person who kills the slash-happy cowboy & his accomplice. Far away, reformed killer & still-grieving widower, William Munny (Eastwood), is struggling to raise his 2 children by making a lowly living as a hog farmer.
Munny is not the man he once was, but desperately needs the $$ to support his kids. And so, with gunslinger "The Schofield Kid" (Jaimz Woolvett) also looking to earn the reward, and recruiting his old partner, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), the three set-off to kill the cowboys. All the while, back in Big Whiskey, arrogant gunslinger, English Bob (Richard Harris), arrives in town with his biographer to carry-out justice & collect the reward. But Little Bill teaches him a harsh thing or two about the virtues of gun law obeyance & the folly of vigilantism; diminishing English Bob's legend by releasing some repugnant truths ... and physical blows.
Because Munny is our main character and a conduit for the story as a whole, he is naturally the most sympathetic character onscreen. That said, he IS a seasoned killer who, murdered men, women & children in cold blood back in his heyday. Conversely, while Little Bill is cruel beyond belief ... he is also a man of justice. Who's the real villain, here? That is the question Eastwood brings up as filmmaker and, it is an enticing notion to ponder throughout the story. Furthermore, in a world of complex & moral ambiguities - ironically - the most 'innocent' folk can be construed to be the 2 cowboys who try to redeem themselves by keeping the faith in returning the horses to Little Bill; the younger cowboy even offers an extra horse to the scarred prostitute.
Further to all of this, while Munny IS our anti-hero protagonist and, while he insists that he's "not the same person", in the end, he reverts to what he once was. The climactic gunfight - which in many Westerns would be a moment of victory - plays out on this tale with a hint of resignation & sorrow. At a critical juncture, Ned finds that he can't return to his own patterns of old. And The Schofield Kid, who idolizes the act of killing from a far, finds it distasteful when in the position to actually kill. Kevin Costner was also able to turn his own Western upside down 2 yrs. prior, by upending the whole 'Cowboys & Indians' convention.
The performances in 'Unforgiven' are 1st rate. Clint personifies the world weariness of a man-of-violence who is quietly, but intensely trying to fight against his killer instincts. Munny's life is written all over Eastwood's weathered face. Nobody does 'stoic' better than Clint Eastwood. Richard Harris & Morgan Freeman get short-shrift of screen time, but boy do they make every moment their onscreen worth it. Frances Fisher makes an impression as head prostitute, Strawberry Alice. And Gene Hackman won his 2nd Academy Award for his powerful & terrifying portrayal of 'Little Bill', the vicious lawman who relishes doling out punishments. Watching him & Munny - inevitably - face-off in the climax is riveting.
This 131 min. epic moves well with a driving pace thanks to Joel Cox's masterful editing. The 19th c. Wyoming sets {dusty streets, ramshackle buildings} are superb. Jack Green's camerawork is exquisite -- technical excellence is visible in just about every frame. I like Lennie Niehaus' moody score. And Eastwood's direction is sublime - atmospheric, tension-filled, and he allows his actors to shine. This film was a huge hit and, if I have one complaint, it would be that I wanted more of the Richard Harris character; but that's a nitpick. 'Unforgiven' is not without some welcomed gallows humor, but ultimately, it is simply a somber, yet gripping movie which shows that violence begets violence, and that law & justice are not necessarily equivalent.
Dirty Harry could be viewed as the embodiment of violence-without-consequences. 'Unforgiven', however, approaches barbarity & death from a viewpoint, emphasizing that there are permanent consequences to violence. 'Unforgiven' looks like a Western ... but doesn't exactly feel like one. The violence is savage, the sheriff isn't the 'good guy', & the plot is steeped in moral ambiguities. The story opens in 1881 with 2 narrative threads that will eventually intersect. Big Whiskey is your typical frontier town with a saloon, a whorehouse, a barbershop, an undertaker, et al. The town is overseen with an iron-fist by Sheriff 'Little Bill' Daggett (Gene Hackman), who is principled by the law, but has a sadistic streak.
One fateful day, a drunk, irate cowboy repeatedly slashes a prostitute named Delilah (Anna Thomson) across her face. Little Bill deals out his slap-on-the-wrist punishment: the attacker must pay the prostitute's handler a number of horses {big whoop!}. There is no prison time, no whipping, & no restitution to the lacerated woman. Her brothel co-workers pool their funds & send-out the word that they'll pay $1,000 to the person who kills the slash-happy cowboy & his accomplice. Far away, reformed killer & still-grieving widower, William Munny (Eastwood), is struggling to raise his 2 children by making a lowly living as a hog farmer.
Munny is not the man he once was, but desperately needs the $$ to support his kids. And so, with gunslinger "The Schofield Kid" (Jaimz Woolvett) also looking to earn the reward, and recruiting his old partner, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), the three set-off to kill the cowboys. All the while, back in Big Whiskey, arrogant gunslinger, English Bob (Richard Harris), arrives in town with his biographer to carry-out justice & collect the reward. But Little Bill teaches him a harsh thing or two about the virtues of gun law obeyance & the folly of vigilantism; diminishing English Bob's legend by releasing some repugnant truths ... and physical blows.
Because Munny is our main character and a conduit for the story as a whole, he is naturally the most sympathetic character onscreen. That said, he IS a seasoned killer who, murdered men, women & children in cold blood back in his heyday. Conversely, while Little Bill is cruel beyond belief ... he is also a man of justice. Who's the real villain, here? That is the question Eastwood brings up as filmmaker and, it is an enticing notion to ponder throughout the story. Furthermore, in a world of complex & moral ambiguities - ironically - the most 'innocent' folk can be construed to be the 2 cowboys who try to redeem themselves by keeping the faith in returning the horses to Little Bill; the younger cowboy even offers an extra horse to the scarred prostitute.
Further to all of this, while Munny IS our anti-hero protagonist and, while he insists that he's "not the same person", in the end, he reverts to what he once was. The climactic gunfight - which in many Westerns would be a moment of victory - plays out on this tale with a hint of resignation & sorrow. At a critical juncture, Ned finds that he can't return to his own patterns of old. And The Schofield Kid, who idolizes the act of killing from a far, finds it distasteful when in the position to actually kill. Kevin Costner was also able to turn his own Western upside down 2 yrs. prior, by upending the whole 'Cowboys & Indians' convention.
The performances in 'Unforgiven' are 1st rate. Clint personifies the world weariness of a man-of-violence who is quietly, but intensely trying to fight against his killer instincts. Munny's life is written all over Eastwood's weathered face. Nobody does 'stoic' better than Clint Eastwood. Richard Harris & Morgan Freeman get short-shrift of screen time, but boy do they make every moment their onscreen worth it. Frances Fisher makes an impression as head prostitute, Strawberry Alice. And Gene Hackman won his 2nd Academy Award for his powerful & terrifying portrayal of 'Little Bill', the vicious lawman who relishes doling out punishments. Watching him & Munny - inevitably - face-off in the climax is riveting.
This 131 min. epic moves well with a driving pace thanks to Joel Cox's masterful editing. The 19th c. Wyoming sets {dusty streets, ramshackle buildings} are superb. Jack Green's camerawork is exquisite -- technical excellence is visible in just about every frame. I like Lennie Niehaus' moody score. And Eastwood's direction is sublime - atmospheric, tension-filled, and he allows his actors to shine. This film was a huge hit and, if I have one complaint, it would be that I wanted more of the Richard Harris character; but that's a nitpick. 'Unforgiven' is not without some welcomed gallows humor, but ultimately, it is simply a somber, yet gripping movie which shows that violence begets violence, and that law & justice are not necessarily equivalent.