Unforgiven
In 1992, actor/director Clint Eastwood produced a Western called Unforgiven. He also directed and starred in the movie, receiving an Academy Award for the former and a nomination for the latter. The movie itself won the coveted Best Picture Award that year. It was a bit out of the norm for an Oscar winner, bleak and remorseless without the heroism and justice with which moviegoers have grown accustomed. It lacked the happy ending that makes people leave the theater beaming or, in some cases, even teary-eyed. What it was, however, was a brilliantly directed and edited glimpse of what the Old West might have really been like. There are no good guys or bad guys, only ordinary people with ordinary weaknesses. The title of the film undoubtedly refers to more than one man or one crime of violence (which the movie opens with) against a woman. This is a world without forgiveness, where so-called "good" and "bad" people are alike; all pulled back into some fundamental sin. The plot for Unforgiven centers on William Munny (Clint Eastwood), a former murderer and thief who, for the love of a good woman, gave up his former life to raise a family and make his living as a
Ned is really the only one in the movie who is not damned by his actions. The film shows him falling off his horse, beaten up, crying and lamenting the death he has caused, only to come back with a vengeance and wrath that echoes his violent past. When confronted with the actual act of killing one of the cowboys, however, Ned bows out and heads off alone, on his way back home. Clint Eastwood's direction of Unforgiven is nothing short of brilliant (he was the Oscar Winner for Best Director. There are no typical Western "heroes" or "villains," only real people with both virtues and vices. He truly believes he is doing what he has to do to keep peace. Why would anybody kill Ned?" (1:50:15) Ultimately, Munny kills for the money and is able to survive by reverting back to his old self: being meaner than the rest, killing an unarmed man, and shooting dead all who resist his will. The excursion will pit him against William "Little Bill" Dagget (Gene Hackman), the authoritarian sheriff of Big Whisky, as well as force him to recognize that killing is what he does best. He is damned, nonetheless, by the actions of others. When the Schofield Kid initially proposes a partnership, Munny refuses because "I ain't like that anymore, Kid" (12:06). William Munny, the protagonist, was a self-professed drunkard, thief, and murderer, but was reformed by the love of a good woman. The sheriff of Big Whisky is "Little Bill" Dagget, the film's antagonist.
Common topics in this essay:
Schofield Kid,
Picture Award,
W Beauchamp,
Winner Director,
Award Sound,
Jaimz Woolvett,
Logan Will's,
Unlike Western's,
Clint Eastwood,
Kid Yeah,
little bill,
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bill dagget,
love woman,
academy award,
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Acceptance Essays
