A Closer Look At Unforgiven: A History Of Violence
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Clint Eastwood made a career playing the Western protagonist. For decades he was charged with clearing out rustlers and outlaws, finding buried gold, and negotiating between rival gangs and families in sandy one-horse towns. In playing these parts, Eastwood helped define the tropes and stories of the genre. Then, in 1992, he took the same genre keystones he helped define and turned them on their head when he directed and starred in Unforgiven, a deconstruction of the modern western that explores the ethics and utility of violence, not only in the Western genre, but in Western culture.
The last thirty minutes of this movie don't get any better...Eastwood is like a dark, foreboding avenging angel
There is always someone better
The reaper of souls.
I love the moment where he finds out Ned is dead and immediately turns to the bottle, and over three sips morphs into his old murderous persona, like a subtle Jekyll & Hyde transformation.
Yes he is echoing his former characters like in Pale Rider (which suggested he was maybe a figure from Revelations at one point).
That’s what I like. It’s an inverse of the “happy ending” I associate with westerns normally. It made me think of (pre-prequels) EU Boba Fett.
This is not only Clint Eastwood's best film in front of and behind the camera, it's also the greatest Western of all time and one of the greatest films of all time.
Outlaw Josey Wales is at least equal too it
Yes, absolutely
This is one of the best westerns of all time...and that is saying a lot
Holy shit check out this guy, he's got the second comment!
it’s only ten words
The meaning behind the movie is fantastic 👏
Damn right it's saying a lot man! And you know what? You're right.
I honestly felt this movie was more like a sort of cinematic autobiography directly from Clint of all the characters he has plays as a composite. The kind of story only a man that has lived a complex life can tell looking back and reflecting... The good. The Bad. The Ugly. We all get to that point in our lives. I'm 50 and have had those moments where I stop and look back and shake my heada knowing there is nothing I can do to change the stupidity and arrogance of the past.
Yes youth is wasted on the young
i agree
This has got to be in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. Everything about it is just great.
I would say you deserve some sort of award for this video, but deserve's got nuthin to do with it.
You killed the hell outta that quote...
Haha, awesome comment.
Good one
Lmbo...lol
Sam that was brilliant
I think the hard truth in Unforgiven is that violence is at once a guilty pleasure (for both participant and spectator) and a necessary evil in an imperfect world. It's such a clever film because, at the end, Ned's old demon is forced out into the open and the price paid by those responsible is terrible.
Anyone who wants to leave a thumbs down better clear on out the back.
47 are going to meet the end of his barrel
I literally laughed out loud.
you’re hilarious
"You just shot an unarmed man!"
"Well he should have armed himself..."
My favorite western, second only to The Outlaw Josie Wales.
should watch the proposition
so..its not your favourite then..
@@eddiemcgrath8536 well yes...you're right. Its one of two. Both happen to star Clint Eastwood.
Josie Wales is the one alright. Cracking Eastwood humour.
Clint played the orginal script unchanged, waited until he was old enough to play the part. In the end he went beyond revenge, and fell back to the old cold-hearted killer without a soul. His last scene was like declaring that in the end we are all evil.
none are without sin
His actions, at the end of the film, were motivated by a sense of justice for his friend (Ned). Does that make him evil? His character was a product of his environment, personality and drinking. I believe the statement he was making is that ‘evil’, like any other human trait, is complex .
No, there are good and evil people
I’d say more like you can’t change who you are..
@@TravellerTinker no, only grays
After watching this video all I can do now is lament the epic '90s movie with Jack Nicholson & Clint Eastwood that we never got.
Loved this movie and throughout it shows the difference between those who talk the talk and those who walk the walk. English Bob, Schofield Kid, talked big game about how badass they were. Then its shown they weren't as bad as we thought. They played the tough guy. Ned, he dragged Will back into this life but when push came to shove he couldn't do it. Will didnt want to do it but eventually goes back to what he does best, killing. He was a true killer. Also the other thing I loved was the writer, he glorifies all the violence of the "wild west". Engliah Bob, Little Bill, they get sucked in by him to try to make names for themselves. When the writer tries to tempt Will he almost falls into the same trap but doesn't. The legends of the old west are just that, legends. Will kills because that's what he does. He doesn't want glory like others hes just doing what comes natural and he won't be pimped like English Bob or Little Bill. Loved this movie
The writer is an interesting add-on, beyond just being a narrative device. He seeks out the 'legend' as you say and gets closer and closer to it - but things also get uglier as he does
Good video, although the screenwriter, David Peoples, deserves credit as well.
I don't think his words are meaningless at the end. I believe it's that the Sheriff, although lawfully doing what was right, had gone too far in what he had done to Ned. We, as the audience, are conflicted by the ending. We want Munny to take down Little Bill, but in doing so would rob him of the salvation that his wife had given him. At the end of the film, I believe that more than anything that the question is whether he can come back from the violence at all and if his actions were justified. Munny is remorseful and acknowledges the evil he's done, whereas Little Bill hides behind his status as a lawman for his actions, and we emotionally resonate with Munny for actually displaying his humanity, so regardless of his actions, the audience sympathizes with him more.
Some things can't always be judged in black & white as to ppl's actions, or how come they do what they do, sir. Sometimes, shades of gray are also involved in decision making
*'Unforgiven'* is the only movie I've ever seen where KILLING has consequences. It's not just an action, it's an act that digs deep at your soul and makes you live with the guilt for the REST of your life.
You should watch the movie In Bruges, if you haven’t. It’s my favorite movie of all time. And I bring it up because it has similar themes. It’s about a hitman who accidentally kills a little boy. And then he’s in this sort of purgatory situation, where he wants to off himself out of guilt for what he’s done, but also wants to make up for it.
Sometimes violence is the only answer.
Eastwood Rocks this film big time 😮
I think the biggest message of this movie was how violence never leads to anything good, and how it can scar a man's soul, as in the case of the kid who rode with Will Munney.
So we’re in agreement: Fandor completely missed the point.
@@crypastesomemore8348 The message I got was what Hollywood wants us to get in most of their movies, i.e. the only honorable and decent person in the film is the black man who ends up dying from being so honorable and decent.
@@roybaty4785 what on earth are you talking about? Ned? The one who is guilty of murder for helping kill an innocent man? Honorable and decent are not terms I’d use to describe a murderer. And his race is utterly irrelevant
@@crypastesomemore8348 Why does Hollywood always portray blacks as the nicest, smartest, most loyal characters when they are anything but. And whitey are always the villain characters.
@@crypastesomemore8348 And Ned didn’t kill anyone.
A History of Violence would have been a great alternative title for this film. And this was out before that movie came out too. One of the greatest westerns of all time.
The reaction of the schofield kid to what he did is an amazing scene, hes going to carry that for the rest of his life.
Gene Hackman, gets overlooked. He was awesome in this movie
He got an Oscar for his acting in the movie.
His mantra is not meaningless...it means EVERYTHING. After all, he gets his kids and becomes a store owner/successful businessman. Why? He returned to the path set by his wife. In the film, we see the unusual skill of a killer progress as the story unfolds. He relies on it to bail his family out of a tough situation, he relies on it to complete a contract and then, he uses it for absolute revenge against injustice and brutality. He is the answer to what folks in the town had sown. As you touched on in the beginning, he sets things right and brings a balance to the equation. He is the necessary evil and in the end, he becomes the good guy because of his wife. It’s a bit of a love story on both ends of the tale. A promise kept between a brutal man and a lovely wife. Incredible film.
He's not a good guy, he's the Unforgiven. His penance is living life knowing who he was, is, and will always be, evil...taker of souls...the Reaper.
.. unwavering loyalty and dedication to his deceased wife, not only be tempted but also willingly not being interested, rejecting any indulgence....
Unforgiven is one of the greatest films of all time. A true masterpiece!
The best western ever.
my favorite
SurfK9
I remember watching this in 94. It was one of the best movies I ever watched.
I’ll never forget “deserves got nothing to do with it”.
Clint Eastwood is really the GOAT!
War and violence are ugly and terrible things. But sadly necessary sometimes. Because evil and tyranny would run rough shod over the world without it.
High Plains Drifter is my fav Eastwood movie
Best film ever made. Number 1
Great take. Excellent movie.
One of my favourite movies
Unique perspective on a Hollywood and Western Legend
The bit that always got me is when Ned looks at Bill and admits he can no longer do this sort of thing. Its quite sad as he knows the real effects of life and death.
All problems can be solved with violence.....you only need to be able to live with it.
I love western movies now a days that gone
One of the best videos I have seen on youtube.
I still say it’s the greatest Western of all time
Idc what movie goes up against it, the original Django, Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, Red River, Once Upon a Time In The West, Tombstone, Young Guns, The Wild Bunch, Dances With Wolves, Tru Grit, The Outlaw Joseph Wales....
The end shootout in Unforgiven imo, is only rivaled by Django Unchained (Candie House Shootout), end duel of Once Upon a Time In The West, and the 3 way duel in Good Bad & Ugly.
Client east wood, smartest actor world cinema have ever produced.
We are who we are.... and it's just a movie... but one of the best.
His best movie ever 🎉
I like this movie it took the romance and chivalry out of the west. It was dark, ugly and killing somebody is not cool. Taking life is not that easy and seeing somebody die is tragic and sad .Perfect. Eastwood show the poetry of violence . Great fucking movie!!!
Sad. A rough time. Ex slaves and Indians headed west........
Top 3 best western films of all time.
favourite movie of all time (along with 3 others for a 4-way tie)
You have to live through something like this two understand it. It is hard to put words too. There's something much deeper happening here, And putting words to it is difficult. It happens in other movies, like when Jean-Luke Picard said About the Borg "this far and no further"! He's very reluctant about about what needs to happen but he knows it must happen. And somehow he must pull that from inside himself and apply it to the situation. I saw a clip on UA-cam where a man Drew a Violent dog to himself to protect a child it was what needed to be done and he did it. Unforgiven is about a man that knew he had to stop something evil it just happened to come with a paycheck as well, he would have done it anyway, because it Weighed on him.
Genius in that it was also his farewell to the genre
Brilliant break down. Now that life will be cruel this movie may be antithetical.
Great movie.
Well done. I’ve always enjoyed this movie. I always find something I didn’t notice each time I rewatch it.
This is a great western movie also great review on this by the way.
The many cliches about violence get turned on their ear in this movie. It begins when Clint Eastwood's daughter asks, "Did Pa used to kill people?" Here she is not expressing dismay. She is expressing disbelief. She is saying, "I don't think that guy is capable of hurting a butterfly."
There are other interesting comments in this movie. Sheriff "Little" Bill Daggett makes an interesting comment about violent men in general, "They ain't men of bad character. They're men of no character." An interesting comment is made about Sheriff Daggett by one of his deputies, "He might be tough, but there isn't a single straight angle anywhere on that house." Sheriff Daggett doesn't seem to have much interest in sex. It is apparent that he is single when he is sitting alone in his self made house. He isn't worried about it. For all his potency when it comes to violence, he is impotent in other ways. Other characters are caricatures, presenting violence in a highly deromanticized way. This movie relentlessly deromanticizes violence. The violence in this movie is ugly. I didn't get the sense that it was enjoyable. It is dark and scary.
Movie where the rider disappears is High Plains Drifter. Not Pale Rider
Anton Chigurh Exactly
Yip that's why you can't take him seriously
@@Jayskiallthewayski High Plains Drifter > Pale Rider any day of the week tho
bradythebluraybandit lol no Pale Rider is far better
Integrate your dark side. Be familiar with it but don't let it consume you. Easier said than done as the process is usually a life long challenge.
I kind of wish that woman with the cut up face had left with William Munney and his kids.
Ah but like McQueen says in the Magnificent Seven the Gunfighter never wins. Nobody won in Unforgiven
That would have been the Hollywood ending. Unforgiven ain't that kind of film.
Well. Put! Probably THE best Western of my short life. I often use lines from the movie in my everyday life so much that I forget where they came from. EXCELLENT post mordem. Right or wrong is not even an issue, anyone who says your video is bullshit doesn’t understand ART. Art is made by the Artist. He makes it with a certain intent. However it is the VIEWERS that decide WHAT it is to THEM. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this film!
Eastwood's best and most authentic western, a cinema classic.
Great video and was correct until the end where I think you completely miss the point of the last scene. Its meant to show the character returning to his old ways of killing and drinking and is shown as a BAD thing. By the end the protagonist is shown as a bad person because of his return to violence. Its meant to mean that no matter who you kill or avenge murder will always have a negative outcome and will only cause more violence.
i think it’s an illustration of how guns and alcohol don’t mix
Clint Eastwood by the violence shown in unforgiven burried all violence.
excellent job
I wouldn't say Munny was cowardly. He was extremely outnumbered. He did what he had to do.
That’s actually High Plains Drifter at the start, not Pale Rider.
The final scene is a departure from the gritty violence in the rest of the movie. Here Clint Eastwood single handedly shoots down a saloon of twenty armed men. The film has reverted temporarily from deromanticized violence to Hollywood style violence. But then when Clint Eastwood wants to get out of the town the specter of gritty violence returns. He makes a dire threat to the townspeople, and he does get out of the town, but he has sold part of his reclaimed soul to do it.
I don’t we ever saw him trying to get out of town in any of his other westerns
It is the 4th best western that Clint Eastwood was ever in with the first 3 being the dollars trilogy
The Outlaw Josey Wales was great too
Unforgiven > A Fistful of Dollars
Very good analysis, it really was a well thought out film
Probably the worst analysis of this film on UA-cam
Your edits are very good.
Good analysis!
It's in my top 5 westerns my number 1 is tombstone
Aside from Once Upon A Time In The West, this is the epitomal Western. A prequel, as much as I hate to admit, may give the audience more insight into Munny's whiskey addled brain. And I bet Scott Eastwood as Will would knock it out of the park. One can only hope.
Really great editing.
Great analysis.
Interesting analysis.
Do a review of the ballad of Buster Scruggs
still a great movie
I like thinking about the easy to see physical violence that is easy to point at and declare. At the same time politicians can sit behind big desks and send money or promote wars that kills thousands, tens of thousands, millions and not even blink an eye. Or promote laws that allow women to go and kill their unborn when there is choice all the way to sleeping with someone. At the same time a man has no say over the life of that child, but has to take care of that child after birth. Man, many politicians are more vicious then any serial killer and I have come to believe they really do know what they are doing and just Evil.
Example, mayor of Chicago allows the street violence as long as it still brings them votes. He/She is just as Evil as the murdering gang member.
Playing Red Dead 2 got me interested in westerns. I wanted to watch something newer and haven't seen before but settled on Unforgiven. So glad i did. Awesome movie.
I'm actually considering watching a few westerns from the 70s and 80s specifically with Eastwood. Any suggestions?
watch hateful 8
@@trumpforKing808 already saw it as well as Django Unchained and the Magnificent Seven last year. Good movies
The dollars trilogy, especially The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider...awesome classic westerns with Eastwood
The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Dollars Trilogy, High Plains Drifter, Hang Em High.
Amen❤
Lil Bill: I'll see you in hell.
Wild Billy Munny: Yeh
I would disagree with you about the sheriff. He is not a bad person-not completely. He seemed to not enjoy it, more like he had to so he could enforce the law that was set up. Ned’s death was implied to have been an accident. He’s not a saint but I would contend he was not a bad man. At worst he came off as an ass sometimes.
The opening shot on the bottom is not pale rider,it's high plains drifter if I'm not mistaken!!! 😂
Every review I have watched so far has missed one important point and that is alcoholism. It was alcohol that made him a ruthless killer. Once he got that bottle from the kid it brought out the animal in him his courage in a bottle so to speak. . 5:18
The vengeful William Munney in the last portion of this film is very much like Christopher Nolan's version of Batman in the Black Knight movies.
I have never seen unforgiven before with client Eastwood Morgan Freeman and gene Hackman in it before it's a good movie to which for those who like western movies like I do I have two favorite movies that I like with client Eastwood in I like unforgiven and I like pale Rider those are my two favorite western movies in the world stevinskie lane🔫🔫🔫🔫
The only thing I don't like about Unforgiven is the fact that other strong men won't stop the Sheriff from being a bully...
Angela Hagerman They’re not strong men. One of the points of the movie, I believe, is that while the deputies act brave and tough, when they have the chance to take out Munny at the end, they either run away or shoot wildly in a panic.
In the 1st shot...I believe that is High Plains Drifter and not Pale Rider
Fandor covers a lot, but this movie is too rich to be covered fully in less than 8 minutes. One of the repeated themes he didn't get much into is the fact that the movie did not just deconstruct violence in westerns, it commented fairly directly on the glorification of violence in our society. The pissed-his-own-pants "biographer" of English Bob (author of penny dreadfuls), who latches on to Little Bill Daggett when Little Bill shows he is the more violent, and who later attempts to latch on to William Munny at the end (only to be rebuffed), is very clearly a stand-in for the public who buys his prose. Then there is the "Schofield Kid", who thinks it would be glamourous to be a notorious killer. And finally, at the very end, William Munny--who has just shot a great many men and announced his history of indiscriminate killing--rides unmolested through town. A man raises a gun and tries to sight in on him, but lowers it without a shot because his hands are shaking too hard. This scene is the clearest possible callback to English Bob talking to the man on the train earlier in the film:
---------------------
"There’s a dignity in royalty, a majesty that precludes the likelihood of assassination. Now, if you were to point a pistol at a king or a queen, your hand would shake as though palsied . . . the sight of royalty would cause you to dismiss all thoughts of bloodshed, and you would stand - how should I put it? - in awe.
Now, a president? Well, I mean, why NOT shoot a president?"
---------------------
We write books and make entertainment out of real and imaginary violence. When we are young and stupid, we dream of being seen as violent ourselves. That penultimate scene in the movie comes right out and shoves in our face the theory that we glorify and exalt killers and those who are capable of it. The idea that the film doesn't fully deconstruct violence in Westerns because William Munny was, in the end, violent in a cinematic way slightly misses the mark. The movie was only partially about Westerns. It was also largely about holding up a mirror to the audience.
It deconstructs the violence of its genre beautifully, though it is still a film that is designed to enthrall an audience. Fandor’s review misses the whole point of the film.
I have seen the enemy and he is us.
Does anyone know the name of the song at 4:30
From the soundtrack of "A Fistful of Dollars" by Ennio Morricone
I love this movie .. BUT .. I do kinda feel sorry for Gene Hackman .. bit of a dick but just trying to police a town to the best of his abilities! :)
He was a rotten bastard.
It's similar to Back to the Future part 3
I personally really enjoyed the women’s story.
The only myth of western films Eastwood failed at subvert: You Mess with Clint Eastwood in a movie and you are dead sonovabitch
Realizing that movies are primarily for entertainment purposes, and the action comes from a script not from the characters, allows the spectator to enjoy the simple ideas of right and wrong, in a black and white world. The genius, and tragedy of this movie is that there is no black and white, the main characters are all the same dirty gray.
No- Little Bill was the closest this film had to a good guy.
@@crypastesomemore8348 True, but not by much,
Revenge Western?
“Deserve’s got nothing to do with it”.
"Duck I says"
You missed the theme entirely.
Que buena peli alguien la tendra en castellano....
OR it could be that Eastwood wanted to keep making movies, and at the same realized that he was indeed getting too old to keep playing the same parts over and over again. He also knew the audience would not accept an old man behaving like Dirty Harry. Age means something. That's the reason he made 'Million Dollar Baby': the old man training his last boxer... then he quits for good. Or maybe not.
I’d like to hear thooghts on why they went with the title
“The Unforgiven”.
I have a theory but i may have it backwards.
I say that The scarred woman didn’t forgive the cowboy. Bill didn’t forgive English bob.
Muny got redemption because his wife Claudia forgive him. So he forgave himself.
He foolishly walks back into a dark place to give her kids a better life. Ned warns him repeatedly but William blames the drinking & thinks if he stays clean he can kill a bad man or two for $ and go back to his life of pig farming but with $ now.
But he is not a good killer without drinking. He’s full of fear which leaves him unsteady & incapable.
They finally kill the cowboys and munys
partner is crushed to be a murderer.
He says he is sorry. In a manor he asks William for forgiveness as he leaves.
We never know if he finds redemption. Ned is largely he moral anchor. His connection to the lost Claudia.
William thinks he can punish a cowboy for what he did to the prostitute and it’s not that bad cause he’s a bad man. Ned wasn’t so sure.
When William finds he’s wrong & ultimately Ned is punished for Williams actions.
This sends William back to drinking,
As he is reminded of what he used to know. There is no glory, no redemption,
No cosmic justice. There is just luck,
Once drinking William has lost his fear. The fear that dominates the posse & leaves them unable to shoot strait.
Little Bill tho like English bob and William muny has embraced the dark side.
He knows life is brutal and there is no good and bad. There is just black and grey,
He’s explained to the writer that the cowboy myths are just that. That a steady hand is the best u can do.
He’s been spoiled since leaving the mining towns.
Little bill has become civilized. He forgets that people like muny have no fear.
He leaves himself unguarded as it never even occurs to him that muny will come back for revenge.
And to be sure.
Muny essentially says that he is not coming back for justice,
Just because one man killed his last friend & the only good man he knows, and another has allowed his body to be stood in front of his saloon & whorehouse.
Muny felt forgiven thru claudias love and religious nature.
Without her pulling him to the light he has slipped back into despair & violence.
Go no longer feels like he can be a good man. He the years with her were something of an illusion. Where he wanted to become what he is not.
Little bill is still a cruel man but he has found something.
As William found his wife little bill became the law. He has a place. He’s building his roots here and his house.
That is his redemption.
But he’s now like muny as the film starts. He’s lost his edge.
He has fear as he lies on his back.
William remind him that in this cold world there is no justice.
That “deserves has nothing to do with it”.
William & bill are essentially the same man in a different situation.
They could’ve equally fallen into the others life given the same circumstances.
Which is likely why they have the same name. To make this exact point.
When little bill tells William that he will see him in hell William agrees with him.
William knows what he has done is wrong.
He knows Claudia and even Ned would not approve.
He believes he is giving to hell in both figuratively and most likely literally.
He has said that Claudias love allowed him to forgive himself and as a new Christian he learned that god will forgive any sin.
Now that spell has been broken. He can no longer believe it, he knows he’s Unforgiven.
It’s clear when he talks to Ned about the people that he’s killed. He is haunted by his past and can not forgive himself. Hence Unforgiven.
The hero is Cowardly?