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Unforgiven: The Western Genre

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There are certain elements that a film has to have for us to consider it being a part of the western genre. For example, when we think of a western we immediately picture an open landscape of mountain ranges, rugged lands or vast plains. We see settlers building homesteads or small towns, which often creates a main street where all the small business would be located including a jail and some saloons. Also, I cannot forget about the famous bar and gunfight scenes that will get you to the edge of your seat. The film Stagecoach is a perfect example of a typical western but the film Unforgiven does have similar elements but I wouldn’t say that it is a typical western; it seems to put the conventions of a western into question.
In Stagecoach, we …show more content…

The role of the men that is skilled with a gun acts as a peacemaker and protector of the town. Regardless if he is the sheriff or not, the role of a man that takes justice into his own hands and punishes bad men is somewhat lost in Unforgiven. The idea of good guy versus bad guy aspect is left to a person that is ambiguous and the traditional hero becomes more of an antihero. At the beginning of the film, Clint Eastwood’s character, William Munny, is presented as an anti-hero because he does have a violent pass that involves the killing of women and children. The film shows that he feels a little remorse for what he did in the past and just considers it as business. We can see that Will goes through many character transformations like when he met his wife; they said he was a cold hearted killer that turned into a righteous husband and a loving father. He gave up the life that he had to create a life with her as an unsuccessful pig farmer because he believes that she saved him from a life of evilness and he continues to live an honest life even after her death. However, when Scoffield kid comes to convince Will to come out of retirement, he is very hesitant but then accepts because he needed to earn some money to support his children. Unfortunately Will’s

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