Introduction from Se Young Kim, Mellon assistant professor of cinema and media arts at Vanderbilt University

When prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Thomson) is disfigured by a pair of cowboys in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, her fellow brothel workers post a reward for their murder—much to the displeasure of sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who doesn't allow vigilantism in his town. Two groups of gunfighters, one led by aging former bandit William Munny (Clint Eastwood), the other by the florid English Bob (Richard Harris), come to collect the reward, clashing with each other and the sheriff. UNFORGIVEN was Clint Eastwood’s 16th film as director, his 34th as lead actor, and his first to earn him an Oscar (he won both Best Picture and Best Director).

“…Eastwood was in his 60s, and had long been a director himself. Leone had died in 1989 and Siegel in 1991; he dedicated UNFORGIVEN to them. If the Western was not dead, it was dying… It was time for an elegy. The film reflects a passing era even in its visual style.” —Roger Ebert, rogerebert.com

“In his 10th excursion into the genre that made him a star more than 25 years ago, Clint Eastwood has crafted a tense, hard-edged, superbly dramatic yarn that is also an exceedingly intelligent meditation on the West, its myths and its heroes. With its grizzled cast of outstanding actors playing outlaws who have survived their primes, this is unapologetically a mature, contemplative film…” —Todd McCarthy, Variety

“...Pays homage to the great tradition of movie westerns while surreptitiously expressing a certain amount of skepticism.” —Vincent Canby, New York Times (1992)