Unforgiven Analysis

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Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven falls into the western genre because of its untamed frontier setting, hero and villain characters, and iconic climatic ending. Unforgiven tells the story of William Munny, a retired Old West outlaw who, with the help of an old friend and a young gunslinger, returns to his old ways with one last job. The movie starts with a group of prostitutes in Big Whiskey, Wyoming offering a reward for someone to kill two cowboys who assaulted one of their own when local authorities are reluctant to get involved. The young gunslinger, the Schofield Kid, goes to visit William Munny out in the wilderness and tries to recruit him to take on this offer. Munny refuses to return to his old ways initially, however his farm is failing and he wants to be able to provide for his children.
Munny then later decides to enlist the help of his old pal and partner Ned Logan, who decides to join him for this final job. When the group of Munny, Logan and the Kid arrive in Big Whiskey to figure out the cowboys’ location, Munny is beaten up by the sheriff when he finds a pistol on him and the trio leave town. After regrouping and recovering they ambush a group of cowboys and kill the first of the cowboys that assaulted the prostitute. Munny and Logan both learn that they can’t kill without feeling remorse anymore. Logan makes the decision to return home, while Munny and the Kid go on and kill the second cowboy. When Munny and the Kid collect the reward, they are informed that Logan was tortured and murdered by the local sheriff. Munny convinces the Kid to return home and give his kids his money. Munny then goes to the town with the intentions of killing any man that stood between him and the sheriff. When Munny goes into town he finds ...

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...le. He ends up defeating the sheriff and also killing almost every person in the bar. “Once in Greely's Saloon, Munny (now a fully formed Eastwood character) provides the spectacular explosion of gunfire the genre's narratological grammar demands.” (Ingrassia) This ending to the cowboy’s journey is a very important part of the western genre and in this aspect, Unforgiven matches the western genre.
The western genre film has specific elements to them such as the setting, characters, and the conclusion. While these aren’t the only elements that make a western film, they are the most apparent and significant. Unforgiven has these elements through its vast open frontier setting, hero and villain characters and their personalities, and its final shootout scene between the hero and villain. Through these elements it clearly matches the distinct style of the western genre.

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