Unforgiven

Clint Eastwood's career in the western genre didn't begin with Sergio Leone but it certainly was those three iconic films that would go on to make him a household name in the world of Hollywood, and I enjoyed every single one of them. Now I still have many acclaimed westerns of his to watch for the first time but I was particularly intrigued to see where his time with the genre would come to a kind of conclusion with the 1992 film, which he would also direct, Unforgiven. 

With its overwhelmingly positive reputation and multiple Oscars to its name, including Best Picture, I was curious to see Eastwood outside of the spaghetti western genre and purely within the territory of an American made western. His directing career has had its bumps though for me with films such as The Mule, Richard Jewell and Mystic River where I just couldn't quite appreciate what everyone else saw in these but here the man was on very fine form.

Adapted from a screenplay that had been circling the industry for some time, the story follows a prostitute being mutilated and the town's sheriff letting the culprits off lightly. This ignites a plan from the victim's friends to put out a bounty on the heads of the perpetrators and this news eventually reaches the homestead of a retired, widowed gunslinger by an enthusiastic professional killer. Eastwood, playing the retired gunslinger, swears he is done with violence and has changed his ways in a promise to his diseased wife for the wellbeing of their two children but the handsome reward is too great to refuse and so he reluctantly accepts the offer to get back in the saddle. 

Unforgiven is a truly haunting and immersive, if very unpleasant, western that is far removed from any of Eastwood's other films like this. There is a real quality in the simplicity in which he tells this story that is straight to the point without a single lull in the tightly produced two hour running time. Much of this can be down to the talented crew and screenplay he surrounds himself with but Clint is flawless in front of and behind the camera in a remorseful take on a once ruthless gunslinger. I also wouldn't want to forget mentioning the stellar performances from Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett and Richard Harris who round out this film that seems like it hasn't aged a day in the 30+ years since its release.

I can't call it the easiest film to watch but it is a thrilling experience that only goes from strength to strength before the conclusion making this without a doubt worthy of its high reputation. I have said this before about westerns but this is another film that can engage audiences who wouldn't usually consider something like this and if drama is your thing, then please give this a go. If an HBO in their prime made a feature length theatrical film, then it would look something like this.