Analysis of Unforgiven Brenda J. Thompson ENG 225: Introduction to Film Nathaniel Millard October 5, 2009 Summary While the movie Unforgiven (1992) directed and starring Clint Eastwood, as William Munny, is in the genre of a western in the late 1800’s. It has a basic theme that we are still making movies about today, justice and what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in our search for it. It is a story of a journey that one man has to make in order for him to care for his children but it ends up being so much more of a journey than he anticipates. This movie is the ultimate of good versus evil on a couple of different levels. It is good guy versus bad guy and it is the evil within fighting the good within and the constant …show more content…
The buildings were dark, small and gloomy on the inside and due to the fact that the majority of the movie took place in the nighttime hours and it was stormy more than not, the outside was just as gloomy as the inside. The lighting was minimal as it would have been back then bringing mood with it. The foreshadowing of the stormy weather worked in making this movie what it was, the rain seemed to let you know when something was coming. As much as the wilderness scenery was beautiful, I found it downplayed by the drab colors of the costumes and the non use of color throughout the entire film. It seemed as though the only time color was used was determined by what that particular scene was about. For instance, as English Bob came into town the only item of color was the drab red of the stagecoach, so we knew whoever was in that stagecoach was going to become an important character to a scene coming up, everything else was a muted earth tone of tan, brown, green and blue. As stated in our text a director may simply let their settings just be a backdrop and let the action of that scene take over. (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, pg. 374) This was exactly how this movie was told; it focused on the story instead of glamorizing it with colorful costumes and scenery. We needed to see the drabness of the subject in the muted colors of the movie. Another scene that showed a pop of color was that of William (Eastwood) and Ned (Freeman) were having a conversation where William was
This sets the scene very well. Mary Shelly didn’t decide to use any type of weather for this scene, because it wouldn’t look dark and build tension enough. For example a sunny weather would probably be used to show a happy mood of a scene. An important theme she uses is ‘Nature & Nurture’.
I believe color, and in part lack of, is very important to this masterpiece. Cole colors the river valley light green and light brown to show vibrancy and cultivation of the cleared fields. He colors the forest dark green and eliminates colors in the shattered tree trunks and rugged cliffs to show the natural wonder of the untouched forest. These differences in color show how man is destroying the natural wilderness in favor of agricultural advancement.
This movie explores issues of greed, human relationships, betrayal and redemption, personal innocence and responsibility as well as the effects on the human mind
While the film is in color, sometimes it appears to be in black and white. There are no bright colors in the film. Most of the colors are either browns, beiges, whites, blacks, and grays, so that even when the characters are outside or in daylight, there are contrasts between lights and darks. For example, at the beginning Mr. Gettes is seated in a somewhat dark office, yet he is wearing an all-white suit. Later, when he goes to examine the dried up river bed, his black suit contrasts with the bright sunlight and light colored sand.
This movie Directed by Paul Haggis who also directed Academy Award Winning "Million Dollar Baby" and had also won an Academy Award for this movie as well puts a twisted story in this film. This movie is trying to symbolize what goes on in the world today in regards to racism and stereotypes. He tries to make a point on how societies view themselves and others in the world based on there ethnicities. This movie intertwines several different people's lives, all different races, with different types of beliefs. Such ethnicities include Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Middle Eastern. This movie includes conflicts on both sides of the picture from cops and criminals as well
The image is brighter and sharper in the film. The contrast of the film really affects the mood. Since the contrast is so bright the viewer is bound to stay focused and aware because everything is so catchy and noticeable. Also, the exposure changes throughout the film. At the very beginning the film starts in black and white and changed to color as the story progressed. The filmmaker uses a lot of Long Takes, each shot of Dorothy meeting someone new is pretty lengthy.
Not only did weather affect the plot, but huge natural disasters also affects the plot. On page 81, it says, “I looked and saw the entire portable being swallowed up by the mud, it’s roof now where it’s porch steps
Every since John Ford’s 1939 western Stagecoach, the West has been portrayed in art, entertainment, and literature as a desolate arid landscape of mountains and deserts. The story or movie backdrop was usually set in America’s colonial era and often included small frontier towns with saloons, the local jail, and ranches on the outskirts of town. The main characters were ranchers, handsome gun slinging wayward cowboys donning Stetsons, savage Indians raging havoc against settlers, and outlaw gangs roaming the prairies holding up banks and railroads. Every story pretty much had a similar plot; the pursuit of wrongdoers, lawmen and bounty hunters set on catching that elusive bad guy, guns and gunfights, and the humble settlers protecting his family and land. The heroes that
One of the ways why cinematography made the film was the lighting. To get the feel, the lighting appeared to be fake shadows that were painted on the set. The fake shadows that were painted on the set gave the lighting appeared to be harsh and sharper to set the mood for the audience. If it weren’t for the painted shadows, the movie wouldn’t have been so successful in the horror genre. Since it was a silent movie, if it weren’t for the shadows, you wouldn’t of seen it as a horror film, but as an original film that was trying to be creative.
The film begins in dark stormy night with lighting and thunder as the view of the outside house is shown
Most of the actors are wearing darker clothing as well which makes their faces stand out even more. This lighting style also adds to the tension and the mystery of the scene. It makes the audience on edge. The contrast filled lighting of film noir is also effective at bringing out the extremes of emotions and thought. The darkness of the genre makes anything that goes wrong seem less taboo, because the lighting of the genre sets up the norms for the world that the film lives in—and in that world, bad things happen. The lighting of the film helps the audience understand the world that the characters are in.
The 1992 winner of the best movie of the year, Unforgiven, is viewed by many to clash with the society of 1992 involving certain aspects of feminism and racism just to name two. This movie won four academy awards including best picture, best supporting actor, best director, and best editing but it was actually nominated for nine which is pretty phenomenal considering the amount of money it cost to make the film. In this movie, morality is in question throughout the whole film, as well as the power money actually has on people. The plot of Unforgiven focuses on the character William Munny (Clint Eastwood), who gave up his life as a thief, murderer, and villain for the love of a woman and to raise the family they were soon to have. Unlike
His cinematography “creates an exceptionally inviting, varied look for this nocturnal story, and special visual effects are smoothly integrated into the action. The makeup that adds pale eyes, ghostly pallor and tiny blue veins to the principals' faces manages to create a frisson of danger without marring the actors' attractiveness” (Maslin). Rousselot used dark-lensing, a way to attain low key shots and thus created a huge contrast to the sets and costumes (Maslin). This made the characters seem as though they were the only important things in the otherwise dark and gloomy shots.
The Western genre is undoubtedly one that is governed by the traditional male 'hero' and its masculine stereotypes. Rarely does the genre break away from this mould, however Ang Lee's renowned film Brokeback Mountain defies the set expectations of the Western and its celebration of masculinity. The film depicts the tragic love between the two central characters 'Ennis del Mar' and 'Jack Twist', set against the backdrop of the American
In the movie, From Hell the plot is based around the strategic string of murders of women in a prostitution ring. The success of this movie is accredited to the usage of dramatization, music, and its transitional cut scenes. “From Hell” is an intriguing, suspenseful, thriller that plays off of the audience's perceptions of horror due to their previous patterns of fascination. This movie effectively keeping their interest and builds suspense throughout the movie.