Unforgiven - You Are What You Were

 (1992) ★★★★☆

When the old West was popular, I wasn't old enough to be able to appreciate it though. And when I am, it's no longer popular, and replaced by sci-fis and special effects. Client Eastwood's 'Unforgiven' appeared at the time when people started to forget about cowboys, outlaws, gunslingers if you like, in the wild Marbolo West. It's more or less like a salute to the Western films that often give us thoughts about the balance between personal vengeances and lawful punishments.

Will Munny (Client Eastwood), a retired gunfighter who has quit killing and drinking for years since he got married, is now trying to live like a normal hog farmer, but you know it's kind of hard for a man like him with a villainous past to be truly good and sobered up again. What he did in the past and his wife's death are still haunting him. He's such a weak and exhausted man that he doesn't even have the strength to hold still a pig or mount a horse, let alone firing a nice shot. That's why he hesitates when The Schofield Kid wants to recruit him to kill a cowboy who destroys a whore's face with a knife. He accepts the deal eventually on account of his need for the bounty offered by the whores, and decides that there should be three to finish the job, along with another gunfighter Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman). A local sheriff, Little Bill, (Gene Hackman) however is bound to stop them coz he doesn't like any guns and assassins in town. Will takes the job simply coz he needs money to raise his kids, but things turn very personal after Bill whips Ned to death and makes his corpse a sign to warn gunfighters off the town.

Frankly, I don't know what it takes to be a good Western film, but judging from positive critics, reviews and honors given by the Academy (1992's Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor), 'Unforgiven' should be the best not to be missed. I like its style of storytelling, dialogues, acting, bleakly bright cinematography, and the buildup for the final shootout that is rather rough, explosive and stunning indeed. It's not at all conventional since there're more mental struggles and emotional confrontations than physical ones, or say, actual gunfire. This film could've been cut shorter but I guess it takes more time than usual to force a man trying hard to be different from what he used to be to recollect his old nightmares.