"Unforgiven"

Clint Eastwood the director and star of the classic Western "Unforgiven" does a great job as showing the true underlying aspects of the heroic cowboy. Clint Eastwood, as William Munny is a older widow and father of two kids who is trying to live a respectable life as a hog farmer until the Scofield Kid comes alont asking for help on murdering two guy who cut up a women. At first hesistant, William declines but then realizes he needs the money and chases the Kid with his partner Ned Logad (Morgan Freeman) to go ahead with the task at hand. I think one scene that really stuck out to me was right after William shot the first cowboy because you could see the sadness and fear in his eyes. William had left his past behind him many years ago because of his wife.

In class we talked about how he only did this for money and how it wasn't a big deal to him, but thinking about this scene and how it affected him so greatly shows that he really did not want to return to his past and that after the shot that killed the first cowboy he returned back to his old habits. I think this relates to the current world becuase many people try to escape their past but it seems to catch up with them no mattar what the reason is. Take alcoholism for example, someone can be an alcoholic and no have a drink for years but the moment they take the first sip, well they are back to their old habits as William Munny did. And in both cases the person is not necessarily proud of what they have done or returned to.

This movie to me was great because it reminded me of "Walk the Line". The great Johnny Cash tries to escape drugs and alcoholism after become a legend of a rock star but just can't seem to do it. He falls for June Carter and tells himself that he is going to give up drugs for her and she even tries to help him but it's not until a violent push that he actually follows through. Although these two movies aren't exactly parallels of one another they seem to be somewhat related to one another.Another movie that comes to mind when talking about bad habits returning is "Good Will Hunting", when Will Hunting just starts to make progress about his life that hit rock bottom he takes a turn for the worst. Will pushes away anyone and everyone who is close to him by using a sarcastic and violent tone to his words. I think Will Hunting relates to William Munny because they are both characters that want to seem independant but as the viewer we know they desperatly need help.

"Unforgiven" has inspired me to watch other westerns esepcailly those directed or staring Clint Eastwood to see what sort of similarities and differences I can find. Is he a shy family man in all of them? Does he kill for money or to relive his youth? I hope to find these answers in films such as "The good, The bad, And The Ugly" or "Pale Rider". Clint Eastwood has a very unique way of directing and acting that I would love to continue to observe.