Unforgiven NC

Unforgiven is undoubtedly a revisionist film. Beginning with the lawlessness of the West and the bounty on killing the cowboys, the film expresses the complications and undesirable consequences associated with the hunt for money. The enforcement of 'justice' by the sheriff criticizes the government's system of handling crime, and as a result, the ideas of good and bad are twisted throughout the film, leading up to the climactic battle between the main characters and the 'law.' The men on the search for money seem to be good at heart, especially exemplified by their remorse from murder, making them anti-heroes.

Morgan Freeman appears as an equal to these men, even as being a black man in the setting he is in, but seems much calmer and wiser than the rest as seen in the campfire scenes. He is married to a Native American in the film. These groups were not cast in roles as cowboys in traditional Westerns, even from the position of the anti-hero. The very fact that he appears in the film is important, but the importance of his character shows how revisionist the film truly is.

As mentioned, these men are anti-heroes, best shown by Clint Eastwood's character William Munney. As a settled down father, he had relaxed from a life of killing and stealing and worked towards reforming his life and redeeming himself. Reluctant to accept the job, he does so under the pretense of money and not justice, but the end of the film in which Little Bill and his deputy are killed shows that William's actions did in fact lead to some good. In some way, justice was served.

The film breaks away from the old mold of the traditional Western, but tells a story just as well. Accepting other groups and being more tolerant of race, this revisionist Western shows that Westerns do not have to be exclusively white and censor elements of reality that are often forgotten in older films. The application of revisionism in my opinion does not make Westerns better, but helps to show the change that Westerns have moved through and grown from, culminating in the continuation of the American story through the placement of cultural elements.