UNFORGIVEN (USA, 1992) ****½
Distributor: Warner Bros.; Production Company: Warner Bros. / Malpaso Productions; Release Date: 3 August 1992 (USA), 18 September 1992 (UK); Filming Dates: 26 August 1991 – 12 November 1991; Running Time: 131m; Colour: Technicolor; Sound Mix: Dolby (as Dolby Stereo); Film Format: 35mm; Film Process: Panavision (anamorphic); Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1; BBFC Cert: 15.
Director: Clint Eastwood; Writer: David Webb Peoples; Executive Producer: David Valdes; Producer: Clint Eastwood; Associate Producer: Julian Ludwig; Director of Photography: Jack N. Green; Music Composer: Lennie Niehaus; Film Editor: Joel Cox; Casting Director: Phyllis Huffman; Production Designer: Henry Bumstead; Art Director: Adrian Gorton, Rick Roberts; Set Decorator: Janice Blackie-Goodine; Costumes: Glenn Wright; Make-up: Michael Hancock; Sound: Alan Robert Murray, Walter Newman; Special Effects: John Frazier.
Cast: Clint Eastwood (Bill Munny), Gene Hackman (Little Bill Daggett), Morgan Freeman (Ned Logan), Richard Harris (English Bob), Jaimz Woolvett (The ‘Schofield Kid’), Saul Rubinek (W.W. Beauchamp), Frances Fisher (Strawberry Alice), Anna Levine (Delilah Fitzgerald), David Mucci (Quick Mike), Rob Campbell (Davey Bunting), Anthony James (Skinny Dubois), Tara Frederick (Little Sue), Beverley Elliott (Silky), Liisa Repo-Martell (Faith), Josie Smith (Crow Creek Kate), Shane Meier (Will Munny), Aline Levasseur (Penny Munny), Cherrilene Cardinal (Sally Two Trees), Robert Koons (Crocker), Ron White (Clyde Ledbetter), Mina E. Mina (Muddy Chandler), Henry Kope (German Joe Schultz), Jeremy Ratchford (Deputy Andy Russell), John Pyper-Ferguson (Charley Hecker), Jefferson Mappin (Fatty Rossiter), Walter Marsh (Barber), Garner Butler (Eggs Anderson), Larry Reese (Tom Luckinbill), Blair Haynes (Paddy McGee), Frank C. Turner (Fuzzy), Sam Karas (Thirsty Thurston), Lochlyn Munro (Texas Slim), Ben Cardinal (Johnny Foley), Philip Maurice Hayes (Lippy MacGregor), Michael Charrois (Wiggens), William Davidson (Buck Barthol), Paul Anthony McLean (Train Person #1), James Herman (Train Person #2), Michael Maurer (Train Person #3), Larry Joshua (Bucky), George Orrison (The Shadow), Greg Goossen (Fighter).
Synopsis: A retired Old West gunslinger reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.
Comment: Eastwood’s revisionist Western strips away the old mythology surrounding the gunfighters and the lawmen, delivering the vulnerable and violent reality of killing. The film is perfectly paced to capture the nuances in the script and the performances of a wonderful cast, with Hackman, Harris, Freeman and Eastwood all turning in note-perfect interpretations. Gentle acoustic score by Niehaus adds melancholy to the mix alongside wonderful location photography from Green utilising the beautiful landscapes of Alberta, Canada standing in for Wyoming. One of the all-time great Westerns.
Notes: Winner of four Oscars: Best Picture; Actor in a Supporting Role (Hackman); Director and Film Editing. Only the third western to ever win the Best Picture Oscar. The other two being DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) and CIMARRON (1931). The final screen credit reads, “Dedicated to Sergio and Don”, referring to Eastwood’s mentors, Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.