What is an Anti-Western?

Unforgiven trailer is at the bottom.

Unforgiven, Directed by Clint Eastwood came out in 1992, and was the last western film Eastwood would Direct. Eastwood to this day is still considered the king, the master, the legend of the western genre. So holding the crown as the last western he makes really helps us as the viewer better understand its underlying message.

The term Anti-western can be easily described as critiquing the western genre tropes, while also sending a message or question more appropriate to the social climate of modern times. In terms of Unforgiven, the film isn't your typical western with tough cowboys, stereotypical good and bad guys, and dry desert environment. Instead the film seems to change a lot of those aspects, most importantly the main character William Money. In a traditional western, William would be a tough outlaw, uninterested with society and family, and looks to be free. Instead, William is past his prime, he is retired. He has a family, two kids and a small farm that he tends to. He is living the life no cowboy should dream of but that is the film, eventually a young cowboy comes to his door saying there is a bounty out for two men that cut up some women. William needs the money and convinces himself that this would be the right thing to do, so they set out to deal with those men. Throughout the rest of the film we see more western genre tropes be turned upside down such as the environment being lush and green, and violence being something negative and wrong.

I wanna quickly touch on violence within the film. Traditionally violence is western is glorified and celebrated because it shows who is the best outlaw in the west. In Unforgiven, the characters live a more realistic version of violence. There are certain characters who have clearly never been apart of it but have grown up on the story, legends, and glorification of violence in western folklore. However, once those characters meet violence and death in the face, they are forever changed and their once realities are shattered by the truth. I believe this could be Eastwood criticizing violence in culture as a who, saying that most people do not understand what it is really like to kill and only understand what pop culture and entertainment have sold them on.

Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the film, this is mostly because I am not a huge western genre fan. I do however respect and acknowledge the amazing technical achievements this film made with its western genre experimentation, and cinematography. I recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of the western or someone looking to build upon their catalog of the classics. This movie really changed Hollywood westerns going forward, greatly influencing films like "Logan" to break the chains of the western genre and make something unique.

Worm Rating: Worm Approved

Worm Rating: 78/100