Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven: Traditional Western Film

The most serious Native American stereotypes are clearly visible in films of the early twentieth century in Hollywood westerns. The big screen stories about western cowboys defeating Native tribes proved to be extremely popular and lucrative. Hollywood then started producing western tales in incredible quantities . In most Westerns, white cowboys represent courageous, brave, and quick witted men while the Indians are the dimming past. Cowboys are logical. “Indians” are irrational. Together, cowboys and Indians are the ego and the heart of the Anglo-Saxon identity. Native American characters in twentieth century films have ranged from stereotypes including the bloodthirsty, raging beast to the noble savage. Still other Indian characters, whether they are heroes, bad guys, or neutral, were the characters with little to no character development or range in their personalities. These stereotypes have their origins in popular American literature dating as far back as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, author of Celluloid Indians, notes that popular stories “centered on Native American savagery served as outlets for violence and pent up aggression in an early American society that prided manners and respectability.” (Kilpatrick 2) In these stories, the Native American population was seen as bad, though individual members could be represented as good. These stereotypes continued for years. One author, James Fenimore Cooper, began publishing a series of stories titled The Leatherstocking Tales in 1841. Kilpatrick emphasizes that Cooper

In 1939 John Ford masterminded a classical western film by the name of Stagecoach. This film has the integrity of a fine work of art. Being that it could be considered a work of art, the impression left on a viewing audience could differ relying on the audience's demographics. However, it is conceivable to all audiences that Ford delivers a cast of characters that are built on stereotypes and perceptions conjured from 'B' westerns that preceded this film's time. Each character is introduced to the audience in a stereotypical genre, as the film progresses, these stereotypes are broken down and the characters become more humanized. This is apparent with a handful of characters being

For more than fifty years, Clint Eastwood has been actively defining and redefining cinema as an art form. His experiences as an actor on television and in film have greatly influenced his directing style. Across his films, Eastwood incorporates several issues and techniques that help the audience to identify said films with Eastwood's directorial style. Eastwood's aim in his films is to tell stories of the human experience. Francois Truffaut and Andrew Sarris have aimed to define the qualities that make a director an auteur whose works stand out above the rest. The qualities defined by Truffaut and Sarris can be seen in Eastwood films including Unforgiven (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Changeling (2008) and help to establish Eastwood as an auteur.

In the 1953 film Shane directed by George Stevens, mysterious hero Shane helps settlers in the west claim their property against land owners who are greedy for land. The film follows Shane as he meets the Starrett family who are fighting to keep their land. This film is an example of a classic Western film, with elements that reflect a uniqueness about the film in comparison to other Westerns, both cinematically and thematically.

John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.

The American western frontier, still arguably existent today, has presented a standard of living and characteristics which, for a time, where all its own. Several authors of various works regarding these characteristics and the obvious border set up along the western and eastern sections have discussed their opinions of the west. In addition to these literary works by renowned authors, one rather convenient cinematic reference has also been influenced by these well-known, well-discussed practices of this American frontier. “True Grit”, a film recently remade in 2010 by the Cohen Brothers, crosses the boundaries of the west allowing all movie-goers to capture one idea of the western world. The movie, along with a few scholarly sources

The Wild West is one of the most famous time periods in American history. Spanning from post Civil War to the early 1900’s, the West was plagued by outlaws, deadly diseases, and harsh weather. The grim reality of the Old West is often overlooked, due to Hollywood’s portrayal of it. Many movies about the West are generally over dramatic; sending the message that shootouts happened everyday at high noon and other over the top conceptions. The reality of the “Wild West”, America in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, is not how Hollywood romanticizes it.

In Matthew Bernstein’s essay, The Classical Hollywood Western Par Excellence, he states that while Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939) “appears to glorify American history, particularly its expansion westward at the expense of Native Americans” (299) it also develops an “acute social observation” of life on the Frontier and it challenges elements of the myth constructed around this history (316). The film Stagecoach depicts not only the struggles faced by pioneers traveling through Indian territory, but the belief among people during this time period that anyone can go to the West to get a “fresh start” and live a completely new life without social prejudice. However, Stagecoach proves this myth to be false for various reasons. One example of this would be when Mr. Hatfield offers Mrs. Mallory water from the water canteen on the stagecoach. Once she accepts his offer, Mr. Hatfield pours it into a silver cup for her and does not offer anyone else in the stage coach water. Ringo then makes a comment to Mr. Hatfield that he should give the other lady in the stagecoach, Dallas, water as well. However, Dallas has a reputation of being a prostitute. So, Mr. Hatfield decides to give her some water but refuses to lend her the silver cup to drink out of, he makes her drink it out of the canteen instead. This example proves that these people were not getting a “fresh start” and only the upper class can share such luxuries as a silver cup with only other upper class people, social

This film by virtue of its independence has shied away from the usual hype associated with American movies. The result is an original screenplay by Billy Bob Thornton that is transformed into a mesmerising tale of the south. Thornton cast actors with ability rather than their image or ‘Hollywood status’. Sling Blade challenges us to re-evaluate our principles and our definitions of right, wrong and of justice.

The southwest is a region of the United States that makes our country unique. Without the southwest, we would undoubtedly lack the spirit, hope, beauty, and truth that this vast region brings to the rest of the United States as a whole. The southwest represents many things, such as journeying, racism, violence, the clashing and cooperation of cultures, and spirituality, as well as primitivism and pastoralism. All of these elements that the Southwest is comprised of is perhaps the reason why the rest of the country feels so captivated by it; why the southwest is considered a place to “find yourself” or to “regenerate”; and why literature and film regarding the Southwest has been and continues to be of the most popular genres. The western film was one of the most popular during the first half of the twentieth century. Audiences far and wide were mesmerized by actors such as John Wayne and Roy Rogers, and their roles as heroes who fought to tame the American frontier. This very concept, ‘taming the frontier’, gives way to a larger theme that was prevalent in many western films and literature of the southwest: ubi sunt, or rather “where are those who came before us?”. Director Sam Peckinpah’s The Ballad of Cable Hogue portrays this idea better than any other western film; the concept of ubi sunt is undeniably the film’s overarching theme, clearly seen through its components.

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

In 1905 the film The Little Train Robbery was released. It was a parody of The Great Train Robbery, and it had the same plot except an all child cast. It was the first movie to critique or make fun of another movie. The director had a point to get across to the audience and he did that through the use of children actors. Almost ninety years later the biggest western actor at the time did the same thing, except without the humor. He directed the film Unforgiven, and through it he was able to critique certain aspects of a traditional western genre. In the film Unforgiven, the director, Clint Eastwood, uses the characters Little Bill, the Schofield Kid, and W.W. Beauchamp to critique and attack common conventions of the western genre.

Reviewing the last twenty-five years of the Western, 1960–1985, is salutary for both aficionados and novices. The sixties began with a great film done in the sparest, most austere classical manner, Budd Boetticher's Comanche Station (1960). The last of the Renown cycle of seven films that Boetticher made with Randolph Scott, Comanche Station reduces the elements of the journey Western to create one of its purest expressions ever. Scott is an aging knight, a man "always alone in Comanche country," who, reminiscent of John Wayne's searcher, hunts endlessly for his wife, taken ten years previously by the Comanches. He buys a woman out of captivity–not his wife, of course, whom he will never find–and escorts her back to her husband. The journey pits him against a charming, evil adversary (Claude Akins), and the trip becomes the occasion for a moral dialectic of the kind for which the Western seems the perfect vehicle. In the end the villain adopts Scott's code, dying honorably, and Scott delivers the wife to her husband. He turns out to be a blind man, a fact that surprises and pleases because all through the film we have worried, along with Scott, about what kind of man would leave such a woman to another's care. It is a great film, and anybody wanting to know what the old-time Western was

I read four books this semester in English 10. Those four books were American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood, The Old Man and the Sea, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. All of these books were enjoyable. The first of these books that I read was American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood by Marc Elliot. This was a long book and it took me a while to finish, but it was worth it. This was a biography about Clint Eastwood that went through his entire life and career. It helped me better understand the movie making process and how people in entertainment are. The second book that I read was The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea is about a fisherman trying

This film adds several elements to Eastwood’s canon of Westerns including mythmaking and inclusion of minorities. However, in my opinion, the liberation for the viewer comes about from the film’s ability for an individual to have contradictory discourses on varied subjects which add a layer of ambiguity to the film. Although I focused on particular contradictions in archetypes, there were several more such as the film's use of Marxist rhetoric to critique the perversions of capitalism, but in the end using the system against itself, through the prostitutes getting revenge, William sustaining his family, and finally, his ability to attain prosperity. Additionally, it’s a story about the redemptive qualities in humans although the main protagonist