Unforgiven (1992)

It seemed as though Clint Eastwood had left the world of westerns behind him. But lo and behold, he did return to that genre with 'Unforgiven', even though this is not the type of western you might expect. You will soon see why.

Eastwood is William Munny, nowadays a pig farmer, but he used to be the meanest son-of-a-bitch around. During the film, he frequently lays the blame with the fact that he was drunk most of the time and that his wife changed him into a better man. But when a young gunslinger comes to ask him for help in taking two men down, Munny doesn't hesitate for too long. This proves in a way that you can't really hide who or what you are. Munny also convinces his old partner Ned (Morgan Freeman) to join in the manhunt. But when push comes to shove, Ned is truly a changed man and the Kid talks tough, but isn't born to kill. Munny, on the other hand, doesn't really care all that much. But he does go up against one hell of an opponent in the shape of sherriff Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who is quite possibly the only one on the same level as Munny. They both feel like hardcore remnants of the old Wild West.

If you are expecting lots of guns blazing, glorious shots of riding into the sunset and all the other familiar tropes of the western, you might be in for a shock. Sure, this story takes place at the end of the 19th century and it still feels and looks like the Wild West, but things are changing. Not only that, but this story is all about character and quite possibly the meaning of a single life. Is it all worth something? To some people, it obviously is and to others: not so much. Munny sort of has a redeeming side, as he goes to take out the two cowboys in a clinical fashion, just doing it for the money. But when his friend gets killed, he goes on a killing spree in the saloon in a shootout that feels small and claustrophobic, but all the more tense and real for it.

If there's one thing that benefits 'Unforgiven' enormously, it's the great character actors present here. You've got Eastwood, Freeman, Hackman and Richard Harris as English Bob, I mean: what a line-up! Harris plays a loudmouth gunslinger, one of those types that are often romanticised in wild tales and become more myth than man, yet here his mythos is brought to a screeching halt by the truth.

It's hard not to like this film, especially if you like westerns and characterdriven films. But it may be too slow and 'real' if you much rather prefer escapism or the stylized take on the subject matter that Leone for example does. Maybe just give it a go.