Chapter 26 "When you pull the trigger, you're down": Unforgiven, 1992

"When you pull the trigger, you're down": Unforgiven, 1992 1. "When you pull the trigger, you're down." Morgan Freeman said so in the documentary "Sinking Road" included in the bonus disc of this set of DVDs.He talked about the core issues of "Unforgiven" (Unforgiven): the nature of violence, how violence corrupts people's hearts, and the consequences of violence.What Eastwood filmed was indeed a "conscience" western.In previous western films (or action films), the audience was often confused by the so-called "just use" of violence, and even attracted by the pure venting or beauty of violence.But "Unforgivable" points out that moral judgments are not that simple, and killing people is far from a straightforward thing, because everyone is complicated in himself.

"Unforgivable" is the same as westerns in the usual sense. In the story, some people engage in violence "for a few dollars", and some people advocate violence and embrace violence in order to become famous.But Eastwood used the pleasure generated by violence to reflect on this form of entertainment, not only for the West, but for society as a whole (Eastwood did not stop this theme until 2004's "Million Dollar Baby" ).Westerns are supposedly a "hot" genre of film, but Eastwood's films are "cool."In this film, William Money, the gunman played by Eastwood himself, pointed out the essence of killing-taking away everything and the future of others.

The film focuses on the deaths of two innocent people: one is the young cowboy who accompanied his brother to the brothel; the other is Ned, the black gunman.However, in the face of violence, we see that there is no difference between whether there is a crime or not, and there is an indefensible fact in this.The DVD's commentary track is narrated by Time film critic Richard Schickel (also author of the Colin Eastwood biography), who notes that "the most important thing about this film is that it distinguishes Violence, necessary and unnecessary, is morally poignant enough to condemn violence."

2. “…this is a West that has turned everyday life into myth, and these are lies, excuses, subterfuge, and even a fabricated legend.” American film critic Pete Dowell said this when talking about "Unforgiven".Bazin also pointed out in the famous "Westerns and Typical American Movies" that the deep feature of "Westerns" is mythology. "Unforgivable" subverts the mythology of westerns and western films, thus completing the revelation of the nature of violence. So where does the "false legend" in Unforgiven begin?It's different from all westerns (or even all action movies) in that it starts with a woman (whore) making fun of a man (cowboy) with a smaller penis.Almost all western films emphasize the courage, bravery, and heroism of men, but "Unforgiven" starts from here, which shows that the subversion (irony) here is very thorough. (Another part of the film points out a legendary cowboy known as "Two Guns". The truth is that he does not use two guns at the same time, but his penis is more special).And the whore got cut in the face by the cowboy with a knife, so the whores save money to pay the gunman to kill the cowboy.But rumors of the crime have gone awry, in which the prostitute was not only slashed across the face, but had her eyes, ears and breasts cut off as well.After the crime is exaggerated and exaggerated, it seems that the hero's violence is the embodiment of justice, and the violence has an unnecessary excuse.In Unforgiven, lies drive everything.

Look at the "Three Musketeers" in "Unforgiven".The appearance of William Money played by Eastwood is really surprising and laughable.It's a dirty pig farm and he's catching sick pigs in the mud.Not only was he poor and destitute, but he was also miserable.And the marksmanship and riding skills of this legendary figure have always been an irony in this film.The other is Kid Kuffy, a quintessential Western character who wants to be a good killer but is really gutless.What's even more ridiculous is that he turned out to be highly myopic, and he was born unable to become a sharpshooter.The most normal one is Ned played by Morgan Freeman. He is an innocent and normal person, but the first thing the gunman does after he enters the town is to find prostitutes and use their bodies to pay for the murder in advance.Their assassination was also not legendary, it was just carried out secretly in the toilet, and the killer even went into the wrong latrine.

The most exciting core passage in "Unforgivable" is the confrontation between the iron bowl sheriff Bill Jr. and the legendary gunman England Bob in the police station, and W. W. Bouchard, the author of cheap novels and biographies.This scene explained to the audience the truth of the legend.In Bob's mouth and Bouchard's book, there is a famous, falsified and exaggerated duel, but Bill Jr. tells the real situation-real duels are often composed of a series of chaos, mistakes and embarrassment.Killing people isn't easy, and there's nothing magical about a shooter.The wretched writer Bouchard is a peculiar character of this "anti-Western".In fact, in history, it is such people who have exaggerated descriptions of the West, which makes people have a certain romantic yearning for the West and the Gunners, which is what Eastwood wants to expose and oppose.Bill Jr. sarcastically pointed out that the bombastic gunman Bob was not a "duke" but a "duck".

The tyrannical character of Sheriff Bill Jr. is the key to triggering a sudden change in the plot.He enforced the law with iron fists and did not hesitate to use violence.In the film, we see him carefully build a house for himself. Although he is not a good carpenter, we can see that he is a little ridiculously happy.Building a house is a metaphor, a metaphor for Bill Jr.'s yearning for a civilized and orderly society.Therefore, before he was killed by William Money, he said with regret, "My house has not been built yet." In fact, this also shows that violence cannot solve the problems of civilization and order.Indiscriminate violence is unforgivable.

3. "We are all self-inflicted." Colin Eastwood himself as William Money said after the killing.I believe this is not only the sigh and remorse of Moni, but also Eastwood's meditation on life and career as a star.Richard Seakel says in the commentary track that it reminds him of Hitchcock, in typical Hitchcockian emphasis that each of us is guilty.And when his innocent friend Ned is murdered, Money finally returns to the past and resumes drinking and killing at will.But this is no longer Moni when he was young and vigorous, this is Moni at the mercy of fate.In Unforgiven, Eastwood transforms from a savior (hero) to a redeemer (anti-hero).

The subtitles at the beginning and end of the film refer to William Money's late wife, who appears as a hallucination in Money's mouth on a tombstone on the moor.This is an angel who healed Mooney from alcoholism and homicide, and brought Mooney a new life.And the question raised by the film: Why did the beautiful woman marry a murderer who committed all kinds of crimes?It seems that there is no need to answer, leaving a little residual romance and sadness.In Eastwood's films, the images of mother and wife have always been missing in different forms.And some other women in "Unforgiven", those prostitutes, used money to summon Money to go back to the road of killing.

In terms of tone, darkness occupies most of the screen space and time (most of Eastwood's films start and end with night), and this tone is very consistent with the state of the characters he wants to express.The shadow of violence hangs over all living people.On the other hand, Eastwood deliberately retained a very typical traditional picture of western films: the scene of gunmen riding side by side on the grassland under the sunset.Even a certain tone is influenced by John Ford, such as the setting sun setting off the scene of his William Money facing his wife's tombstone, imitating "she Worea Yellow Ribbon" (sheWoreaYellowRibbon).The beautiful scenes of those typical western films are in sharp contrast with the poor life, the cold night and the terrible death in the film.

4. Richard Sikell, a reviewer for the feature film "Unforgiven" DVD, doesn't focus too much on behind-the-scenes footage, focusing on pointing out the meaning of the scene and interpreting the film's moral connotations.He doesn't think it's an "anti-Western," saying it's a "very classic traditional Western that interprets some contemporary issues in very traditional settings. It's just by Western standards." For the film, the scenes (characterizations) of this film are many, many real." The reason is that in the end William Money's murder was not a random act, but a traditional revenge.Although this point is vague, his conclusion for "Unforgiven" is very accurate, he said, "the film is made of humor and villainy." In the extras of the DVD, there are two documentaries about this film, "Road to Sinking" and "Making Unforgivable".The former is the director's interpretation of the film. The performances of this film, especially the performances of small roles, are very successful.The latter describes the filming process, arguably the most authentic set in a Western, and Eastwood doesn't even let any motor vehicles into the town.Emphasizing historical realism is the basis of this film, which is also the basis of its "anti-myth" quality.When interviewing the film's crew, interviewers specifically asked everyone how long they had been working with Eastwood, and some actually worked with him for thirty-five years, many for more than a decade.As a fan of Eastwood, a feature-length documentary about Eastwood in the extras is very valuable.It also mentioned how he learned the skills of being a director from Sergio Leone and Don Segal.In a sense, "Unforgiven" is his tribute to these two directors. Back in 1968, Eastwood passed up a role in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, knowing full well that by staying in Italy he would risk ossifying his role and his future.He returned to the United States and started a new business.If "Once Upon a Time in the West" is a magnificent, graceful and soothing "eulogy of Western films", then "Unforgiven" shot by Eastwood, a superstar of Western films 24 years later, is like a "The Verdict of the Western".Since then, he has officially bid farewell to the West.