Unforgiven

Unforgiven is a 1992 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood and written by David Webb Peoples. The film portrays William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had turned to farming. The film stars Eastwood in the lead role, with Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. Eastwood stated that the film would be his last Western for fear of repeating himself or imitating someone else's work.[3] Eastwood dedicated the movie to deceased directors and mentors Don Siegel and Sergio Leone. The film won four Academy Awards: Best Picture and Best Director for Clint Eastwood, Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman, and Best Film Editing for editor Joel Cox. Eastwood was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor

Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but he lost to Al Pacino

Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman. The film was the third Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture, following Cimarron (1931) and Dances with Wolves

Dances with Wolves (1990), and followed by No Country for Old Men (2007). In 2004, Unforgiven

Unforgiven was added to the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress

Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Contents

1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Home media 6 Box office 7 Accolades

7.1 Legacy

8 Remake 9 References

9.1 Bibliography

10 External links

Plot[edit] In 1881 in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, two cowboys, Quick Mike and "Davey-Boy" Bunting, attack and disfigure prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald with a knife after she laughs at the small size of Quick Mike's penis. As punishment, local sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett orders the cowboys to pay compensation in the form of several horses to the brothel owner, Skinny Dubois. The rest of the prostitutes do not consider this justice and offer a $1,000 reward to anyone who can kill the cowboys, much to the fury of Little Bill who does not allow guns or criminals in his town. Miles away in Kansas, a boastful young man calling himself the "Schofield Kid" visits the pig farm of reformed bandit William Munny, seeking to recruit him to help kill the cowboys and claim the reward. In his youth, Munny was a notorious cold-blooded murderer, however he is now a repentant widower raising two children and has long since sworn off alcohol and killing. Initially refusing to help, Munny recognizes that his farm is failing, putting his children's future in jeopardy, and so reconsiders a few days later and sets off to catch up with the Kid. On his way, Munny recruits his friend Ned Logan, another retired gunfighter. Back in Wyoming, British-born gunfighter "English Bob", an old acquaintance and rival of Little Bill, is also seeking the reward and arrives in Big Whiskey with a biographer, W. W. Beauchamp. Little Bill and his deputies disarm Bob and Bill beats him savagely, hoping to discourage other would-be assassins from attempting to claim the bounty. The next morning he ejects Bob from town, but Beauchamp decides to stay and write about Bill, who has impressed him with his tales of old gunfights and seeming knowledge of the gunfighter's psyche. Munny, Logan and the Kid arrive later during a rain storm and head into the saloon/whorehouse to meet with the prostitutes and learn the cowboys' location. Delirious with fever after riding in the rain, Munny is sitting alone in the saloon when Little Bill and his deputies arrive to confront him. Not realizing Munny's identity and believing him to be drunk, Little Bill beats him and kicks him out of the saloon after finding that he is carrying a pistol. Logan and the Kid, upstairs getting advances in kind on their payment from the prostitutes, escape through a back window. The three regroup at a barn outside town, where they nurse Munny back to health. Three days later, they ambush a group of cowboys and kill Bunting, though Logan and Munny show that they no longer have much stomach for murder. Logan decides to quit and return home, while Munny feels they must finish the job. Munny and the Kid head to the cowboys' ranch, where the Kid ambushes Quick Mike in an outhouse and kills him. After they escape, a distraught Kid confesses he had never killed anyone before and renounces life as a gunfighter. When one of the prostitutes meets the two men outside of Big Whiskey to give them the reward, they learn that Logan was intercepted by Little Bill's men and tortured to death, in the process revealing Munny's true identity to Little Bill. The Kid heads back to Kansas
Kansas to deliver the reward money to Munny's children and Logan's wife, while an embittered Munny, finishing Logan's bottle of whiskey after not drinking for years, returns to town to take revenge on Little Bill. That night, Munny arrives and sees Logan's corpse displayed in a coffin outside the saloon with a sign reading "This Is What Happens To Assassins Around Here". Inside, Little Bill has assembled a posse to pursue Munny and the Kid. Munny walks in alone to confront the posse and kills Dubois. Munny then shoots Bill and kills several of his deputies, ordering the others to leave the saloon. Critically wounded, Bill vows to "see [Munny] in hell" before Munny executes him. Munny then threatens the townsfolk before finally leaving Big Whiskey, warning that he will return for more vengeance if Logan is not buried properly or if any of the prostitutes are harmed. A title card epilogue says that Munny moved to San Francisco with his children where he prospered in dry goods. Cast[edit]

Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood as William "Will" Munny Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman as "Little" Bill Daggett Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman as Ned Logan Richard Harris
Richard Harris as English Bob Jaimz Woolvett as the Schofield Kid Saul Rubinek
Saul Rubinek as W. W. Beauchamp Frances Fisher
Frances Fisher as Strawberry Alice Anna Levine as Delilah Fitzgerald Rob Campbell as Davey Bunting Anthony James as Skinny Dubois Liisa Repo-Martell as Faith Shane Meier as William Munny Jr. David Mucci as Quick Mike Tara Frederick as Little Sue Beverley Elliott as Silky Josie Smith as Crow Creek Kate Lochlyn Munro as Texas Slim

Production[edit] The film was written by David Webb Peoples, who had written the Oscar nominated film The Day After Trinity
The Day After Trinity and co-written Blade Runner
Blade Runner with Hampton Fancher.[4] The concept for the film dated to 1976, when it was developed under the titles The Cut-Whore Killings and The William Munny Killings.[4] By Eastwood's own recollection he was given the script in the "early 80s" although he did not immediately pursue it, because according to him "I thought I should do some other things first" [5] Much of the cinematography for the film was shot in Alberta
Alberta in August 1991 by director of photography Jack Green.[6] Filming took place between August 26, 1991 and November 12, 1991.[7] Production designer Henry Bumstead, who had worked with Eastwood on High Plains Drifter, was hired to create the "drained, wintry look" of the western.[6] Reception[edit] Unforgiven
Unforgiven received widespread acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes registers a "Certified Fresh" 96% approval rating based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critical consensus states, "As both director and star, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence."[8] Metacritic
Metacritic gave the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 33 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[9] Jack Methews of the Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times described it as "The finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford's 1956 The Searchers." Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss in Time wrote that the film was "Eastwood's meditation on age, repute, courage, heroism—on all those burdens he has been carrying with such grace for decades."[10] Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert criticized the work, though the latter gave it a positive vote, for being too long and having too many superfluous characters (such as Harris' English Bob, who enters and leaves without meeting the protagonists). Despite his initial reservations, Ebert eventually included the film in his "The Great Movies" list.[11] Home media[edit] Unforgiven
Unforgiven was released on Blu-ray Book (a Blu-ray Disc with book packaging) on February 21, 2012. Special
Special features include an audio commentary by the Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood biographer, Richard Schickel; four documentaries including "All on Accounta Pullin' a Trigger", "Eastwood & Co.: Making Unforgiven", "Eastwood...A Star", and "Eastwood on Eastwood", and more.[12] Box office[edit] The film debuted at the top position in its opening weekend.[13][14] Its earnings of $15,018,007 ($7,252 average from 2,071 theaters) on its opening weekend was the best ever opening for an Eastwood film at that time.[10] It spent a total of 3 weeks as the No. 1 movie in North America. In its 35th weekend (April 2–4, 1993), capitalizing on its Oscar wins, the film returned to the Top 10 (spending another 3 weeks total), ranking at No. 8 with a gross of $2,538,358 ($2,969 average from 855 theaters), an improvement of 197 percent over the weekend before where it made $855,188 ($1,767 average from 484 theaters). The film closed on July 15, 1993, having spent nearly a full year in theaters (343 days / 49 weeks), having earned $101,157,447 in North America, and another $58,000,000 overseas for a total of $159,157,447 worldwide.[15] Accolades[edit]

Award Category Subject Result

Academy Award Best Picture Clint Eastwood Won

Best Director Won

Best Supporting Actor Gene Hackman Won

Best Film Editing Joel Cox Won

Best Actor Clint Eastwood Nominated

Best Original Screenplay David Webb Peoples Nominated

Best Cinematography Jack N. Green Nominated

Best Sound Les Fresholtz, Vern Poore, Dick Alexander and Rob Young Nominated

Best Art Direction Henry Bumstead and Janice Blackie-Goodine Nominated

BAFTA Award Best Supporting Actor Gene Hackman Won

Best Film Clint Eastwood Nominated

Best Direction Nominated

Best Original Screenplay David Webb Peoples Nominated

Best Sound Les Fresholtz, Vern Poore, Dick Alexander and Rob Young Nominated

Golden Globe Award Best Director Clint Eastwood Won

Best Supporting Actor Gene Hackman Won

Best Motion Picture – Drama Clint Eastwood Nominated

Best Screenplay David Webb Peoples Nominated

Legacy[edit] The music for the Unforgiven
Unforgiven film trailer, which appeared in theatres and on some of the DVDs, was composed by Randy J. Shams and Tim Stithem in 1992. The main theme song, "Claudia's Theme," was composed by Clint Eastwood[16] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked Peoples' script for Unforgiven
Unforgiven as the 30th greatest ever written.[17]

American Film Institute
American Film Institute recognition

In June 2008, Unforgiven
Unforgiven was listed as the fourth best American film in the western genre (behind The Searchers, High Noon, and Shane) in the American Film Institute's "AFI's 10 Top 10" list.[18][19]

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #98 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #68

Remake[edit] Main article: Unforgiven
Unforgiven (2013 film) A Japanese remake directed by Lee Sang-il and starring Ken Watanabe was released in 2013. The plot is very similar to the original, but takes place during the Meiji period
Meiji period in Japan with Watanabe's character being a samurai of old regime instead of a bandit. References[edit]

^ "Unforgiven". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved January 13, 2015. ^ a b " Unforgiven
Unforgiven (1992)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved January 13, 2015. ^ " Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood reveals why UNFORGIVEN may be his last Western". American Film Institute. Retrieved February 25, 2018. ^ a b McGilligan 1999, p. 467. ^ Whittey, Stephen (June 13, 2014). " Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood on 'Jersey Boys,' taking risks and a life well lived". NJ.com. Retrieved October 10, 2015. ^ a b McGilligan 1999, p. 469. ^ "Miscellaneous Notes". Turner Classic Movies. A TimeWarner Company. Retrieved September 20, 2015. ^ " Unforgiven
Unforgiven (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 1, 2018. ^ " Unforgiven
Unforgiven Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 1, 2018. ^ a b McGilligan 1999, p. 473. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 21, 2002). "Unforgiven". Rogerebert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2010. ^ Newman, Gene. " Unforgiven
Unforgiven [Blu-ray Book]". Maxim.com. Alpha Media Group Inc. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2012. ^ Fox, David J. (August 18, 1992). "Weekend Box Office: Eastwood Still Tall in the Saddle". The Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2010. ^ Fox, David J. (August 25, 1992). "Weekend Box Office: 'Unforgiven' at Top for Third Week". The Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2010. ^ McGilligan 1999, p. 476. ^ Cameron (February 24, 2015). "Not Dead Yet: Ten Best Modern Westerns". The Film Box. p. 10. Retrieved November 15, 2015. ^ "101 Greatest Screenplays". Writers Guild of America West. 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2016. ^ Mirko (June 17, 2008). "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved June 18, 2008. ^ "Top 10 Western". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2008.

Bibliography[edit]

Hughes, Howard (2009). Aim for the Heart. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-902-7. McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. London: Harper Collins. p. 612. ISBN 0-00-638354-8.

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Unforgiven

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Unforgiven at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list Clay Motley: “It’s a Hell of a Thing to Kill a Man”: Western Manhood in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. In: Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture (1900–present) 3:1, 2004. 2004. Psychoanalytic review of Unforgiven Essay on the film

v t e

Films directed by Clint Eastwood

Play Misty for Me
Play Misty for Me (1971) High Plains Drifter
High Plains Drifter (1973) Breezy
Breezy (1973) The Eiger Sanction (1975) The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) The Gauntlet (1977) Bronco Billy
Bronco Billy (1980) Firefox (1982) Honkytonk Man
Honkytonk Man (1982) Sudden Impact (1983) Pale Rider
Pale Rider (1985) Heartbreak Ridge
Heartbreak Ridge (1986) Bird (1988) White Hunter Black Heart
White Hunter Black Heart (1990) The Rookie (1990) Unforgiven
Unforgiven (1992) A Perfect World
A Perfect World (1993) The Bridges of Madison County (1995) Absolute Power (1997) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) True Crime (1999) Space Cowboys
Space Cowboys (2000) Blood Work (2002) Piano Blues (2003) Mystic River (2003) Million Dollar Baby (2004) Flags of Our Fathers (2006) Letters from Iwo Jima
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) Changeling (2008) Gran Torino
Gran Torino (2008) Invictus (2009) Hereafter (2010) J. Edgar
J. Edgar (2011) Jersey Boys (2014) American Sniper
American Sniper (2014) Sully (2016) The 15:17 to Paris (2018)

v t e

Films written by David Peoples

The Day After Trinity
The Day After Trinity (with Janet Peoples) (1980) Blade Runner
Blade Runner (with Hampton Fancher) (1982) Ladyhawke (with Tom Mankiewicz, Michael Thomas and Edward Khmara) (1985) Leviathan (with Jeb Stuart) (1989) The Blood of Heroes
The Blood of Heroes (1989) Fatal Sky (as Anthony Able) (1990) Unforgiven
Unforgiven (1992) Hero (1992) 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys (with Janet Peoples) (1995) Soldier (1998) Unforgiven
Unforgiven (2013)

v t e

Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Picture

1927/28–1950

Wings (1927/28) The Broadway Melody
The Broadway Melody (1928/29) All Quiet on the Western Front (1929/30) Cimarron (1930/31) Grand Hotel (1931/32) Cavalcade (1932/33) It Happened One Night
It Happened One Night (1934) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) The Great Ziegfeld
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) The Life of Emile Zola
The Life of Emile Zola (1937) You Can't Take It with You (1938) Gone with the Wind (1939) Rebecca (1940) How Green Was My Valley (1941) Mrs. Miniver
Mrs. Miniver (1942) Casablanca (1943) Going My Way
Going My Way (1944) The Lost Weekend (1945) The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Hamlet (1948) All the King's Men (1949) All About Eve
All About Eve (1950)

1951–1975

An American in Paris (1951) The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity (1953) On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront (1954) Marty (1955) Around the World in 80 Days (1956) The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Gigi (1958) Ben-Hur (1959) The Apartment
The Apartment (1960) West Side Story (1961) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Tom Jones (1963) My Fair Lady (1964) The Sound of Music (1965) A Man for All Seasons (1966) In the Heat of the Night (1967) Oliver! (1968) Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy (1969) Patton (1970) The French Connection (1971) The Godfather
The Godfather (1972) The Sting
The Sting (1973) The Godfather
The Godfather Part II (1974) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

1976–2000

Rocky
Rocky (1976) Annie Hall
Annie Hall (1977) The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter (1978) Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) Ordinary People
Ordinary People (1980) Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire (1981) Gandhi (1982) Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment (1983) Amadeus (1984) Out of Africa (1985) Platoon (1986) The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor (1987) Rain Man
Rain Man (1988) Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves (1990) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Unforgiven
Unforgiven (1992) Schindler's List
Schindler's List (1993) Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump (1994) Braveheart
Braveheart (1995) The English Patient (1996) Titanic (1997) Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love (1998) American Beauty (1999) Gladiator (2000)

2001–present

A Beautiful Mind (2001) Chicago (2002) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Million Dollar Baby (2004) Crash (2005) The Departed (2006) No Country for Old Men (2007) Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker (2009) The King's Speech
The King's Speech (2010) The Artist (2011) Argo (2012) 12 Years a Slave (2013) Birdman or: (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) Spotlight (2015) Moonlight (2016) The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water (2017)