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Unforgiven film image; three men riding horses

Unforgiven

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Bill Munny (a name to conjure with) is face down in pig shit when we first see him. He’s a bad farmer, but has a natural facility for killing people — a vocation to which he returns in a quest that combines both profit and justice. Or so he chooses to believe.

Working from an exemplary screenplay by David Webb Peoples (who also wrote Blade Runner and Twelve Monkeys), Clint Eastwood fashioned one of the indelible revisionist Westerns, a much more realistic and sour take on the familiar cowboy-avenger theme. Handsomely shot and superbly cast (Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris in support of Eastwood himself), the film presents an American frontier irreparably scarred by violence. It’s a sorry tale, in which one injustice spirals into many; mercenary values and multiple misunderstandings culminate in a mythic shoot out underpinned with a tragic sense of loss and regret.

This dark, melancholic film is a reminder of what the American cinema is capable of, in the way of expressing a mature, morally complex and challenging view of the world.

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune

A stunning, dark Western that may stand as the actor/director’s summation of the form.

David Ansen, Newsweek

A classic Western for the ages.

Todd McCarthy, Variety

 

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Director

Clint Eastwood

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

1992

Language

English

Awards

4 Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman)

19+
131 min

Book Tickets

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Credits

Producer

Clint Eastwood

Screenwriter

David Webb Peoples

Cinematography

Jack N. Green

Editor

Joel Cox

Original Music

Lennie Niehaus

Production Design

Henry Bumstead

90s, Baby!

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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

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VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
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VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

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VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema