By Karen - 06 August 2021
If you are fascinated by Westerns and the young Eastwood wearing a big scarf, then you should watch "Unforgiven", because I can guarantee that it is different from any Western movie you have ever seen. Of course it is also a Western movie, but you will find that the same word can have multiple meanings.
What is the western movie in your impression? The cowboys stood opposite and stared at each other. Suddenly someone moved their wrists. Between the sparks and sparks, a vote of people was bombarded with 45 bullets that were more accurate than precision guided missiles. That's right, if you've seen N westerns. , Then you must have seen N to the Nth power in the above scenario. Very enjoyable, but it is easy to make people have too romantic associations with the performance of the firearms in the 19th century. Fortunately, we have "Unforgiven", which can tell us the truth.
“It's really not easy to be fast, but the most important thing is to be cool-headed.” Sergeant Bill's summary and the mockery of British gunmen in prison can be said to be a mockery of the entire 60s Western film community, one by one. The picture has been re-interpreted to form a group of rascals and lazy men in a meaningless fight. The key to victory lies in whether you can draw your gun and hit your opponent without hurriedly. At the same time, your gun is so good that it will not explode due to misfire. If this kind of ridicule is not enough Specifically, by looking at the final shootout of the film, you can roughly understand what the cowboy shootout looks like in the real world. There is no fabulous marksmanship, no unbelievable tactics, only blood, unfailing mental qualities, and calm heads. And luck.
One kills five, this description is often easy to make people have a lot of wonderful associations, but Eastwood tells us that the facts it represents can be far from our imagination, it is not irritating, and it is not romantic. , Even very funny, but just like this happened, some viewers' illusions about the gunfight in the west also disappeared.
But Eastwood's ambitions are much more than that. The structure of the signature gunfights that Westerns depend on is ruthless enough, but he is not satisfied yet. What he wants to challenge is the emotional foundation of the entire Westerns, the heroism of cowboys. Smash it. For the audience, it may be depressing to see the hero they admire being crushed by the "bad guys", but compared to the sudden discovery that the so-called "heroes" are just desperadoes who don't care about other people's lives, this It's nothing to be depressed. "Unforgiven" strips off the coat of the western movie knight's fairy tale. It tells us the real life state of those who have their heads on their waistbands all day long and take pleasure in shooting and killing people. It tells us "heroes." Concepts such as "ism", "removal of violence and peace" and "justice" occupy a limited proportion in their world.
A total of 8 people died in the film. Which one is the "bad guy" and which one should die? Even the worst of them is just a farmer who violently abuses prostitutes on impulse. Should little Bill die? A police officer who works hard to ensure the peace of the town in the west where there is no legal system and prohibits all people from entering with a gun? Not a loyal but at least not bad brothel owner? Or another farmer who asked for forgiveness? If you ask questions like this, then you can't find the answer in this film, as the shooting of the sheriff Shiwei said: "Should you die has nothing to do with this matter", what justice, what good and evil, there is only simple In a violent world, there is no point in talking about morality. Chivalry has become a lie, whether it is a cowboy in the American West or a hero in the green forest of China.
If you understand this level, you will understand why such an old-fashioned western film can win 4 Oscars in 1993. "Unforgiven" is a transcendence and a summary of Western films.
If you have not watched Westerns, please watch "Unforgiven", if you have watched many Westerns, please watch "Unforgiven".
