for my film class and for people who didnt watch Unforgiven
This past week I reviewed 'Unforgiven' staring, directed by, and co produced by Clint Eastwood. First off I enjoyed it. With its sweeping landscapes and colorful dialog, this movie failed to lose the attention my caffeine saturated brain. I saw this movie in two lights. First, I saw it as a film theme on redemption. Second, I saw it as western twist to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story begins with the introduction of the protagonist played by Eastwood "William 'Bill' Munny", a then known drunk, thief and murderer. This sets the tone of his character. He is the typical western antihero archetype with a troubled past that he is trying to escape by raising a family. He is left with two children to raise on his own after his wife dies of a sickness. He even gives up drinking because of this. Here is the Dr. Jekyll aspect. When he drinks, he's Mr. Hyde killing without bias or remorse. When he's sober, hes the family man. Quickly the plot is delivered when the scene changes to a prostitute being assaulted and mutilated by two cowboys in a darkly lit hotel room in Big Whiskey, Wyoming. The antagonist is the town sheriff 'Little Bill Daggett' played by Gene Hackman. He is hard line law man with no tolerance for law breakers. He punishes the two attackers by fining them 7 horses, or what he felt the estimated the worth of that poor girl that got cut up. The other ladies of the 'billiards' hall who feel that justice has not been served decide to put out a $1000 bounty on the two that committed the crime. Enter Jaimz Woolvett as 'The Schofield Kid ', named after the pistol he carries. He shows up to Munny's ranch looking for a hard ass gunfighter only to find a widowed father chasing pigs. The Kid acts as a plot motivator and foreshadow device, telling Munny about the bounty and the viewer where the final gunfight is going to go down. His role is the young firebrand who wants to prove he's as hard as the grizzled old Munny. At first Eastwood says he's not interested but then he realizes he needs the money to make a better life for his children. In a way it's almost as if he's trying to buy off his sins by taking care of his children in such a manner. The good of that deed out weighs the evil to him. On his way to meet up with The Kid, Eastwood enlists the help of his long time partner in crime 'Ned Logan' played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman's character was married to Sally Two Trees, a Native American played by Cherrilene Cardinal. Again the viewer is focused on the redememption theme as the old gunfighter cowboy is trying to lead a normal life. Ned begrudgingly agrees with Munny to go help him, even after his wife gives Munny 'the evil eye'. After a brief diatribe, the two are off to find The Kid. The movie quickly gets into the meat of the story, the revenge of the poor prostitute. Ned cant bring himself to shoot one of the men, The Kid cant see the target, so Munny shoots and kills him. Now in this scene you see a man shot once but not killed. He dies a horribly painful death. Typical western style is that if you shoot someone, they die instantly if not a main character. Ned tries to ride off back to the open loving arms of his new life only to get captured by some of the attackers cowboy friends, later tourtured and killed by Little Bill. The Kid kills the second attacker only to realize that killing isn't the way and gives Munny his pistol, forever banishing the idea of being the legendary gunfighter. When the girls go to pay them, Munny finds out Ned has been killed. Enter Mr. Hyde. Munny immediately starts drinking and becomes the Mr. Hyde. Here we see Eastwood take on his old role as "The Stranger" from his 1973 film "High Planes Drifter". He becomes Death and delivers typical yet cinematic gold style reckoning that he helped make famous. He has a rather short but potent shoot out in the hotel, killing Little Bill and his posse. I counted 7 people in 2 minutes but I could be wrong. After which he goes back to his old ranching life. End of story. In most westerns, you see the characters as just cowboys with no real depth but that is not the case with this movie. The dialog presents lots of insight into the characters and how they relate to each other. The time period and the sets were very accurate as was the dialog. For people looking for a spaghetti western type of movie, avoid this. Go watch 'Tombstone' or you will be bored. If you're looking for a western with more to it than gun fighting fat, this one is a fillet mignon of great dialog with a garnish of dark humor and a side of mouth watering cinematography.
This past week I reviewed 'Unforgiven' staring, directed by, and co produced by Clint Eastwood. First off I enjoyed it. With its sweeping landscapes and colorful dialog, this movie failed to lose the attention my caffeine saturated brain. I saw this movie in two lights. First, I saw it as a film theme on redemption. Second, I saw it as western twist to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story begins with the introduction of the protagonist played by Eastwood "William 'Bill' Munny", a then known drunk, thief and murderer. This sets the tone of his character. He is the typical western antihero archetype with a troubled past that he is trying to escape by raising a family. He is left with two children to raise on his own after his wife dies of a sickness. He even gives up drinking because of this. Here is the Dr. Jekyll aspect. When he drinks, he's Mr. Hyde killing without bias or remorse. When he's sober, hes the family man. Quickly the plot is delivered when the scene changes to a prostitute being assaulted and mutilated by two cowboys in a darkly lit hotel room in Big Whiskey, Wyoming. The antagonist is the town sheriff 'Little Bill Daggett' played by Gene Hackman. He is hard line law man with no tolerance for law breakers. He punishes the two attackers by fining them 7 horses, or what he felt the estimated the worth of that poor girl that got cut up. The other ladies of the 'billiards' hall who feel that justice has not been served decide to put out a $1000 bounty on the two that committed the crime. Enter Jaimz Woolvett as 'The Schofield Kid ', named after the pistol he carries. He shows up to Munny's ranch looking for a hard ass gunfighter only to find a widowed father chasing pigs. The Kid acts as a plot motivator and foreshadow device, telling Munny about the bounty and the viewer where the final gunfight is going to go down. His role is the young firebrand who wants to prove he's as hard as the grizzled old Munny. At first Eastwood says he's not interested but then he realizes he needs the money to make a better life for his children. In a way it's almost as if he's trying to buy off his sins by taking care of his children in such a manner. The good of that deed out weighs the evil to him. On his way to meet up with The Kid, Eastwood enlists the help of his long time partner in crime 'Ned Logan' played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman's character was married to Sally Two Trees, a Native American played by Cherrilene Cardinal. Again the viewer is focused on the redememption theme as the old gunfighter cowboy is trying to lead a normal life. Ned begrudgingly agrees with Munny to go help him, even after his wife gives Munny 'the evil eye'. After a brief diatribe, the two are off to find The Kid. The movie quickly gets into the meat of the story, the revenge of the poor prostitute. Ned cant bring himself to shoot one of the men, The Kid cant see the target, so Munny shoots and kills him. Now in this scene you see a man shot once but not killed. He dies a horribly painful death. Typical western style is that if you shoot someone, they die instantly if not a main character. Ned tries to ride off back to the open loving arms of his new life only to get captured by some of the attackers cowboy friends, later tourtured and killed by Little Bill. The Kid kills the second attacker only to realize that killing isn't the way and gives Munny his pistol, forever banishing the idea of being the legendary gunfighter. When the girls go to pay them, Munny finds out Ned has been killed. Enter Mr. Hyde. Munny immediately starts drinking and becomes the Mr. Hyde. Here we see Eastwood take on his old role as "The Stranger" from his 1973 film "High Planes Drifter". He becomes Death and delivers typical yet cinematic gold style reckoning that he helped make famous. He has a rather short but potent shoot out in the hotel, killing Little Bill and his posse. I counted 7 people in 2 minutes but I could be wrong. After which he goes back to his old ranching life. End of story. In most westerns, you see the characters as just cowboys with no real depth but that is not the case with this movie. The dialog presents lots of insight into the characters and how they relate to each other. The time period and the sets were very accurate as was the dialog. For people looking for a spaghetti western type of movie, avoid this. Go watch 'Tombstone' or you will be bored. If you're looking for a western with more to it than gun fighting fat, this one is a fillet mignon of great dialog with a garnish of dark humor and a side of mouth watering cinematography.