BFI: Unforgiven

Unforgiven by Edward Buscombe for the BFI Modern Classic series looks at what I consider to be one of the greatest western revisionist classics. It does a thorough job of debunking the myths of the west, while simultaneously creating them. I recently re-watched the film and enjoyed it as much as I did on the first viewing. It is only recently that I have been steeping myself in the genre after essentially avoiding it for years. Not so long ago I saw Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch began to wonder if I had been missing something. Buscombe gives a close reading of the film in context with the history of westerns and Clint Eastwood's career in particular. I also think it also has one of Gene Hackman's finest performances. It was interesting to know that Francis Ford Coppola originally bought the rights to the screenplay and that Eastwood didn't make significant changes to the script in the filming of this masterpiece.