This Academy Award Winner from Clint Eastwood Is a Meta Western Worth Your Time (2024)

With the exception of actor John Wayne and director John Ford, no other name is more synonymous with the Western than Clint Eastwood. The Outlaw Josey Wales, Hang 'em High, and the "Man with No Name" films by Sergio Leone, which included A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, are some of the most recognizable to fans of the genre. In 1992, Eastwood was both in front of and behind the camera for Unforgiven, a Western that not only featured a stacked cast with Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris but also thrived on the lore of the "gunslinger story," while simultaneously deconstructing it.

If any individual could provide such a captivating narrative and deconstruction of the Western genre, it was Eastwood. He is most associated with portrayals of larger-than-life characters who have become legends in their own right. The legends that have become synonymous with the Wild West of popular culture and the romanticized accounts of Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickock, Annie Oakley, and Doc Holiday have become so grandiose that separating historical accuracy and personas created out of myth becomes difficult. The aura of the gunslinger persists throughout Unforgiven, and Eastwood taps into the vein of this aspect that has dominated Western films since their inception.

The Gravity of Hubris and Legend

Central to the popularity of the Western film is the romanticization of the gunslinger. That is to say, the idea of a larger-than-life persona who has established a reputation as an unbeatable force that can face any challenge with a quick draw of a pistol from their holster. Audiences have been gravitating toward these stories since the inception of the motion picture itself, with The Great Train Robbery in 1903 depicting a gang of outlaws and their eventual demise at the hands of a posse.

Even before audiences began to witness the romanticized vision of the Wild West depicted on celluloid, Buffalo Bill’s Traveling Wild West Show and multiple stage productions depicting the highly exaggerated life of Davey Crocket thrilled spectators and provided Americans with their first bit of folklore based on the real-life characters who helped shape the course of history.

The main plot of Unforgiven, which concerns the retribution for the mutilation of a brothel worker at the hands of two cowboys and collects money to hire mercenaries, is similar to that of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, where those who are in a situation of helplessness seek out legendary fighters who can help them in their situation. This is certainly not a singular incident, as The Magnificent Seven was a remake of Kurosawa’s film and adapted to the Western A Fistful of Dollars, in which Eastwood starred, took inspiration from another one of Kurosawa’s notable works, Yojimbo.

While the basic narrative of Unforgiven might be familiar to many fans of the Western, Eastwood combines the typical formula for the Western with moderate pacing and sweeping cinematography reminiscent of everything from The Searchers by John Ford to the films of Sergio Leone. Unforgiven is a love letter to the visual aesthetic of the classic Western while simultaneously exploring hubris accompanied by the legend of the gunslinger. Many of the characters who play an integral role in Unforgiven have their own accompanying legends and reputations that precede them, only to be deconstructed as exaggerations or romanticizing the violence they’ve inflicted on others.

Deconstructing the Gunslinger

The first example of deconstruction in Unforgiven pertains to the dichotomy of good and evil and how these lines aren’t as clearly drawn and defined as they always are. This pair of opposites exists in Sheriff “Little Bill” Daggett (Gene Hackman) and retired gunslinger William Munny (Clint Eastwood.) Daggett, the supposed symbol of law and order, is a cold and calculating individual bent on keeping any mercenaries coming into town to assist the brothel workers, even if it means engaging in violence with his posse.

Munny, the gunslinger turned farmer, is continually portrayed as the remorseful outlaw, yet as the protagonist of the film, he still deals with the guilt of his past as a violent alcoholic killer. Munny's reputation is established through the arrival of the Schofield Kid (James Woolvett), who seeks out Munny to assist him in taking on the mercenary job based on his past reputation as a gunslinger. This dichotomy of Munny and Daggett directly contradicts the typical narrative of the outlaw and sheriff motif that’s prominent in many Westerns and plays with the aspect of the true nature of good and evil.

The public perception of the gunslinger and the romanticized versions of history and sensationalism can be found in the character of English Bob (Richard Harris) and his biographer W.W. Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek). The relationship between English Bob and Beauchamp establishes the exaggerated storytelling that romanticized the West in its heyday and would go on to do so as it became more popularized in books, films, and television shows. Beauchamp, accompanying English Bob as he enters town, chronicles the exploits of the gunslinger’s colorful career, many of which are debunked by Daggett when he takes the pair into custody. Once Bob is “run out of town” for the lack of a better term, Beauchamp then takes an interest in Daggett, eager for a sensational story for his readers.

Between the Schofield Kid seeking out Munny based on the gunfighter's colorful reputation and Beauchamp looking for a means to chronicle the exploits of the colorful legends, Unforgiven provides a means to explore the reputation and sensationalism found in depictions of the old West. By deconstructing the myth, audiences are allowed to view the typical Western film in a new light. One that’s far removed from the exaggerated exploits and romanticized visions of the frontier.

A Masterclass in Merging Two Worlds

​​Unforgiven, certainly worthy of its critical praise, multiple awards, and box office success, is much more than just another entry in one of the oldest and most successful genres of film. Looking at Unforgiven in terms of style and presentation, the film incorporates many of the hallmarks that are familiar to fans of the genre, most notably the films of John Ford and Sergio Leone. The violent and unrepentant nature that was prominent in many of the spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s is merged with ambitious camerawork and cinematography.

Taking the time to dissect the narrative of Unforgiven, there’s a wonderful tradition of merging the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa with the American West that’s upheld. Audiences have the chance to explore the frontier towns, with their houses of ill-repute, gunslingers, lawmen, and life in a world that still remains largely untamed from the ever-growing reach of civilization.

Most of all, Unforgiven merges the worlds of sensationalism and fact. The lines that define good and evil are continually blurred, and the nature of the gunslinger with hubris, reputation, and lore are challenged. An audience can look at the characters and how their actions become shaped and misrepresented by those in search of a good story or by a reputation that grows from word of mouth. Unforgiven merges several dichotomies and reminds us that many of the legends about the gunslingers of the Old West exist in a romanticized reality.

5/5

Unforgiven

Western

Drama

Where to Watch

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Release Date

August 7, 1992

Cast

Clint Eastwood , Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Richard Harris , Jaimz Woolvett , Saul Rubinek , Frances Fisher , Anna Thomson , David Mucci , Rob Campbell , Anthony James , Tara Frederick , Beverley Elliott , Liisa Repo-Martell , Josie Smith , Shane Thomas Meier , Aline Levasseur , Cherrilene Cardinal , Robert Koons , Ron White , Mina E. Mina , Henry Kope , Jeremy Ratchford , John Pyper-Ferguson

Runtime

130 Mins