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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Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
USA
1992
English
4 Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman)
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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!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Unforgiven
Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) 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.
Malcolm X
In an indelible role, Denzel Washington give us a layered, compassionate, conflicted man who finds the strength in Islam to transcend his demons and confront the inequity and racism in America head-on. Along with Do the Right Thing, this is Spike Lee's greatest film.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
A bona fide classic and arguably the greatest Canadian film of the 90s, Girard's dazzling deconstruction of the biopic gives us the mercurial pianist Glenn Gould as Picasso might have rendered him, a cubist portrait combining multimedia vignettes.
Dazed and Confused
The last day of high school in May, 1976: seniors debate party politics while next term's freshmen run the gauntlet of brutal initiation rites, barely comforted by the knowledge that they'll wield the stick one day.
Short Cuts
Altman's adaptation of Raymond Carver short stories, Short Cuts weaves between 8 or 9 overlapping storylines and 22 characters. it's a teeming, caustic and compassionate human comedy; a singularly astringent, often cynical view of America and Americana.
Three Colours: Blue
The first of Kieslowski's acclaimed Three Colours Trilogy, inspired by the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and the French flag, the Tricolour. Blue stars Juliette Binoche as a young woman grieving her husband and child.
Schindler's List
One of the most acclaimed films of the 90s, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark is the story of a German industrialist whose conscience is stirred to save his Jewish workers from the camps.
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Three Colours: Red
Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who's a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we... Kieslowski's sublime adieu.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings begins with an onslaught of fucks. It's the first signal that this rom-com will break from tradition, despite the ritualized structural conceit described in the title. The witty screenplay is by Richard Curtis — it's still his best.
The Lion King
With its beautifully drawn East African setting, its humour, pathos, and engaging characters, as well as its stirring songs, The Lion King stands as the pinnacle of traditional Disney family entertainment.
Image: © Disney, 1994
To Die For
Buck Henry (The Graduate) wrote this acidic black comedy about a ruthless weather girl on the make (Nicole Kidman in her breakout role). A young Joaquin Phoenix is the dim teen she seduces on her way to achieving stardom.