Back in the not too distant year of 2019, I went through an extremely brief phase of watching old western films. No, I don’t know why either. Some of them were quite good, most of them were just alright, and a handful of them were complete wastes of time. I had many films jotted down that I would’ve liked to have gotten through, but the universe and time itself had different plans for me. One of the films on that list that I’d really wanted to watch was Unforgiven, a revisionist western directed by possibly the most popular and well-known lead of the genre, Clint Eastwood. A man who was so prevalent during this era in front of the camera puts himself in the leading role and the director’s chair too to contemplate his work throughout the once acclaimed genre.
Perhaps there was a lot riding on this film back in the day. Having been the star of numerous western films including the infamous Dollars Trilogy, the stakes were high for Eastwood’s anticipated return to the genre. For the record, the Dollars Trilogy is a masterclass in storytelling, with director Sergio Leone crafting an absolutely perfect series of films that had Eastwood front and centre as the infamous cowboy. Rather than trade his spurs and six shooter in for the next generation of acting, Unforgiven sees an older, wiser and retired cowboy by the name of William Munny (Eastwood) come out of retirement for one last job.
From the get-go, it’s clear that Munny is a meditation on the rapid ageing Eastwood has taken on over the thirty years since his western glory days. If Gran Torino was Eastwood’s ham-fisted last hurrah to his Dirty Harry violence, then Unforgiven was a tip of the hat to a career built by the old West. As expected, he offers up an incredible performance that blends the violence of his early films with the added wisdom he seems to have manipulated into being. Taking sidekick Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) on a mission to find the men who brutalised a group of prostitutes, the film soon finds itself teetering on buddy-cowboy scenarios.
Thankfully, Freeman and Eastwood have some serviceable chemistry. Their scenes are solid, but thwarted entirely whenever we cut to a scene with the villainous Little Bill Daggett, played by the irreplaceably perfect Gene Hackman. Hackman has always offered up some beautiful performances in his career, but to my memory this is the first time I’ve seen him play anything remotely villainous. He plays Daggett with all the intensity of your typical, slimy, corrupt sheriff. Sharing some scenes with Richard Harris in the early portion of the film builds up such a great background to the villainous nature of his character, it’s nice to see Hackman embraces it so wholly.
Unforgiven sticks to its guns, playing it safe for much of the film, but that’s all it needs to do. It doesn’t have to take risks when the risk is in making a western in the post-70s environment. Eastwood and Hackman present us with truly resounding performances, the film alone can survive off of the nourishment and depth of their roles alone. Perhaps my favourite Eastwood directed film to date, on the grounds that everything else I’ve seen from him has been a pool of mediocrity. Unforgiven is a trailblazing western that’ll hit all the right notes for veteran fans of the genre, while at the same time will hopefully convince those sceptical few that the genre has its gems.
