Wednesday Westerns: Unforgiven

Welcome a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. In an effort to provide a look back at older films and a desire to highlight a specific genre, I will be spotlighting a Western film each week, combining films from a course I took while at NYU called Myth of the Last Western and other films I have seen and do see. If you have a Western you’d like to write about, please let me know and feel free to submit a guest spot for future weeks!

Unforgiven
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Released August 7, 1992



Starting with the first film that won Eastwood a pair of Oscars is actually an interesting choice because it represents an anti-Western of sorts. It’s also the first Western I ever saw, and the most recent one to garner major awards attention. Boasting terrific performances from the likes of Eastwood, Gene Hackman (his second Oscar-winning turn), Morgan Freeman, and Frances Fisher, it’s a fascinating exploration of the effects of violence and lawlessness, starring famed gunslinger Eastwood, no less, as a retired bounty hunter who comes out of retirement to avenge the mutilation of a prostitute and take down a corrupt sheriff. For this inaugural entry, I present a special treat: a final paper I wrote for the abovementioned Myth of the Last Western class which looks at these themes in excruciating detail. Be forewarned: in addition to being nearly 3,500 words, it’s also ripe with spoilers, so go watch this A+ film before you read it here. Also, if you’ve seen the film already, watch the clip below, taken from near the end of the film, featuring one of the most memorable scenes about good and evil that I've ever seen.