Unforgiven
Set in the old west, Unforgiven tells the story of William Munny (Clint Eastwood), a reformed drunk and brutal murderer who is now a dirt poor pig farmer. When a chance to collect part of a $1000 bounty lands in his lap he sets out on one more killing and ensure the future of his two children.
He teams up with his old parter, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) and the Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett), a young and eager outlaw. Together they ride out to kill two men who cut up the face of a whore in the town of Big Whickey Oregon, and collect the reward posted by her prostitute friends. As they come ever closer to collecting their bounty it becomes increasingly clear that the consequences of their actions will haunt them for life.
The performances in this film are amazing. Gene Hackman plays “Little” Bill Daggett, the sheriff intent on squashing anyone who tries to collect the bounty on the cowboy's heads. He won numerious awards for Unforgiven, including an Academy award for best supporting actor. He manages to capture the brutal intensity of Little Bill, while infusing him with a sly, edgy humour.
Eastwood is one of the biggest names in american film, specifically in Westerns. He produced and directed this film as well as starring, taking home Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Film.
What makes Unforgiven so good is it's total lack of the white hat–black hat attitude. The western is one of the most reheated formulas in American film and has a strict structer of stereotyping that is extremely hard to break free of.
Unforgiven manages to do it. The film has no bad guy. Just alot of points of view. The cowboys they are hunting down may be assholes but do they deserve to die? Is Munny dishing out justice or killing for money? Is little Bill a sadistic killer or a Sheriff hell bent on upholding the law? This film doesn't answer any of these questions, and that's what makes it brilliant.
My favourite scene in Unforgiven is when Munny, Logan and the Kid kill the first of the two cowboys. They shoot him from a distance with a rifle, but the guy doesn't die straight away. He manages to crawl to the cover of some rocks. Then the “heroes” of the film sit there and listen to his death throes. In how many westerns does that happen?
This may be number 98 in the list, but Unforgiven is definitely one of the top five westerns ever made.