3) Unforgiven
As both a director and an actor, Clint Eastwood may never surpass the incredible work he does in his masterpiece, Unforgiven. A winner of four Academy Awards, this is a film touching on loss of identity, on the nature of evil and on how a country came to be forged in violence. It also offers little in the way of redemption.
William Munny (Eastwood) is a retired gunslinger hired to do one last job, before settling down to the life of a pig farmer. In his path is Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), a lawman who talks peace and justice but is in fact, as violent and corrupt as those he opposes.
Like many of Eastwood’s best Westerns, this is film dealing in the bullshit peddled about the old west. For every tale of heroism there is a truth of brutality, cruelty and betrayal. For every myth created there is a trail of bloodshed and regret. For all that we may think we know about this period, we know only a partial truth, told by those profiting from the blood of others.
It is this, along with a host of fine performances, including Gene Hackman at his charming and terrifying best, and Richard Harris playing one of the last truly great roles of his life, that allows Unforgiven to truly be considered in that small number of classic films.