Unforgiven

Review No. 393

The Bottom Line: Unforgotten.

Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Written by: David Webb Peoples
Will Munny: Clint Eastwood
Little Bill Daggett: Gene Hackman
Ned Logan: Morgan Freeman
English Bob: Richard Harris
Also Starring: Anna Thomson, Anthony James, David Mucci, Frances Fisher, Jaimz Woolvett, Saul Rubinek

Distributed by Warner Bros. on August 7, 1992. Produced in English by the United States. Runs 131 minutes. Rated R by the MPAA for language, and violence, and for a scene of sexuality.

Unforgiven was watched on January 17, 2013.

“It’s a helluva thing, killin’ a man. Take away all he’s got, and all he’s ever gonna have.” –Will Munny (Clint Eastwood)

Once upon a time, I considered Clint Eastwood one of Hollywood’s most overrated icons. When we think of Eastwood’s early roles, the first to come to mind are most likely the titular character in Dirty Harry (1971) or Frank Morris in Escape from Alcatraz (1979). It’s grossly far from the truth.

Clint Eastwood began his acting career in 1955. For a few years, his résumé ran prolifically, despite the fact that he was struggling in obscurity: the very genesis of his career was conglomerated by very small roles—whether on film or television—or roles for which he wasn’t at all credited. His first look at so much as a supporting character was as Keith Williams in Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958). The film was a Western.

Incidentally, it was not Hollywood, but low-budget Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone who gave Eastwood his first starring credit: A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Another Western. He reprised the character in the film’s two sequels. Western, Western. Then in 1968, Eastwood went Hollywood with his first American starring role: Marshal Jed Cooper in Hang ‘Em High. Western.

Unforgiven is a throwback to Eastwood’s roots. We know very well that he had a gunslinger side infused in his actor blood early on. It’s up in the air, however, as to whether or not Eastwood can tackle the genre behind the camera just as well.

We don’t recognize Eastwood as a “cowboy” mainly because as soon as he made his 1971 directorial debut, he abandoned the genre. This film is a brave attempt, not only because it was released over two decades later, but because the Western genre is so confined and territorial. You tell me you don’t like dramas, and you could be telling me any number of things. You tell me you don’t like Westerns, it’s easy to understand. All you can really find in a traditional Western is a 19th century, Western United States setting; and themes structurally limited to lyin’, cheatin’, stealin’, and certain permutations, such as gunslingin’, revenge, and retribution.

Unforgiven, therefore, can’t help its natural flaw of being slightly formulaic. To contradict it all, though, Clint Eastwood directs this into a surprising, unexpected, exciting, and often emotional revenge film.

Unforgiven isn’t an upbeat escapade for John Wayne aficionados. Had it been produced during his Golden Age, it may not have even made it to public theaters. This is a rather dark look at the Old West legends, set in 1881 Wyoming.

The scene that sets the film into action occurs almost immediately after the opening titles. We see a woman being cut repeatedly, gruesomely. Her name is Deborah Fitzgerald, we are told, and she is a member of an entire group of prostitutes. She survives the assault, but only in a disfigured state. Distraught, one of Deborah’s friends issues a thousand-dollar reward to anyone who can seek and kill the two men. Shortly after, a retired, out-of-town gunslinger by the name of Will Munny (Eastwood) is hired for the task. But when he comes to town, he discovers it’s not nearly as simple as taking a single shot.

Unforgiven is an impressive display of performances. I’ve been a fan of Morgan Freeman for as long as I can remember. The man has played numerous roles. Despite most of his roles being either supportive to the plot (Glory) or to other characters (Driving Miss Daisy), Freeman is usually the ultimate highlight of his films. Freeman’s chemistry as a supporter of Clint Eastwood’s in Unforgiven is absolutely impeccable. Alone, the two are acting powerhouses. Combined, they’re the apex of the film.

I mean not say that David Webb Peoples’ script was poorly written, but there were several cheesy lines it could have done without. I’ve heard, for instance, the lines “I’m dying” and “I’ll see you in hell” used as fillers in countless films, and it only sounds as if the screenwriter has been plagued by writer’s block mid-scene. It just doesn’t stand out as well when delivered through a believable medium like Eastwood and Freeman.

All right, you want jokes? Let’s discuss the Academy. The first Western to win the Academy Award for Best Picture was Cimarron in 1931. Strangely enough, the Western genre was at its greatest and, by the Academy, most virtually unappreciated for the near six decades that followed.

John Wayne, often considered the leading icon in the Western genre, starred in 185(!) films during this time. He died in 1979 with one Oscar statuette (for 1969’s True Grit) and one nomination for leading in a non-Western. Few of his films were so much as nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

Italian innovator Sergio Leone directed seven Western classics between 1961 and 1984. When he died in 1989, his prestige had not once been honored by the Academy.

Fast-forward one year. All of a sudden, Dances with Wolves had been crowned Best Picture of 1990, becoming the second Western (and first in fifty-nine years) to win the high honor. The third to receive this honor was only two years later–Unforgiven. On one hand, it’s not exactly fair that the Academy kept the Western genre in its blind spot for so long. On the other hand, Unforgiven deserved almost every form of recognition it could possibly get.