Introduction to Unforgettable Stories

Introduction to Unforgettable Stories | Appreciation | Reflection

1992 color film 13 1 min

Produced by Malpasso Film Company.

Director: Clint Eastwood Screenwriter: david webb Pierps Photography: Jack N. Green's main actors: Clint Eastwood (as William Mooney), gene hackman (as Bill Dagert Jr.), Morgan Freeman (as Ned Logan), richard harris (as Englishman Ingrid Bob) and James Wolf (as Scofield boy).

From 65438 to 0993, this film won four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Editing.

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1878, western United States. William Munny is a famous highwayman who killed several local public security officials. But since he married Claudia, the girl who fell in love with him despite everyone's opposition, he was persuaded by the latter to get back together and live an ordinary life. Today, Claudia died of smallpox. Mooney sadly buried his wife and moved to Kansas with a pair of children she left behind.

Two years later, Wyoming, USA. One stormy night, two cowboys were having fun in a bar and brothel run by Du powys (nicknamed "Skinny"). One of the older cowboys was teased by Dee Anabel, who became angry from embarrassment and scratched her face with a knife, causing her disfigurement. However, when the two cowboys were taken to the town police station, the local police officer "Little Bill" even dispensed with the original flogging, but only ordered the two cowboys to compensate the "skinny" seven horses at the request of the bar owner "skinny" to compensate for the loss caused by Di Anabel's failure to receive guests. Hearing the result, the waitress in the bar felt sad and angry. They are unwilling to accept this insult. At the initiative of companion Alice, five * * * collected 1000 yuan and offered a reward to hire someone to punish the cowboy who caused the accident for them. Although the "thin man" was very angry after learning about this, he still got into a fight with the waitress; The two cowboys who caused the accident paid the victim Di Anabel a pony in addition to the seven horses of the "thin man", but * * * was unmoved. They drove away two cowboys with mud.

A young cowboy called "Scofield Boy" knew about it and dreamed of getting a reward. Knowing that his ability was limited, he went to Kansas and found William Munny, who lived in seclusion in the suburbs and raised pigs for a living. In just a few years, Munny has gradually felt his aging, unable to cope with everything, and life at home is even more embarrassing. He still needs some money to support his and Claudia's children. So, although he refused Scofield's invitation at first, he decided to go out again in the dead of night when he thought of the photo of his beloved wife. Before going out, he took out his revolver and practiced shooting. Several bullets missed the target. Knowing that he was old and weak, he invited his former partner Ned Logan to go with him.

Logan is married now, and his wife is quite disgusted with Manny's arrival. But Logan left long-standing friendship without hesitation with his old friends. They rode north and caught up with Scofield boy. The young cowboy was very dissatisfied with Manny bringing a companion. Because that will mean that the reward of 1000 yuan will be distributed among three people. But at Mooney's insistence, "Scofield Boy" had to accept Logan. At this time, an English gunman named Bob, who killed "China guy" for the railway company for a living, had arrived at Big Whiskey ahead of schedule. He was accompanied by a third-rate novelist named Beacham. This is a person who specializes in the so-called "celebrity biography". His occupation is to embellish the boasting of those "celebrities" and fabricate myths for the public. Unexpectedly, the British gunman, who is said to be famous all over the world, was disarmed by Bill and his associates as soon as he got off the bus, and was handcuffed to drive out the whisky the next day. Beacham, who is good at have it both ways, immediately changed his master and voted for Bill.

Shortly after Bob was kicked out of the big whisky, Manny and his companions came to the "skinny" bar. Logan and "Scofield Boy" went upstairs to meet * * *, and Manny was sitting alone in the shop drinking. Bill heard that they were coming and came to the bar with an assistant. After a quarrel, Bill bullied Manny, punched him and kicked him out. Logan and his companions also hurried away from the window. Back to a cabin outside the town, Manny, who was beaten all over in the rain, was shivering and had a high fever. Di Anabel, who came from Wenxun, took good care of him. Two other * * * also came to the cabin. They not only brought portraits of two murderers, but also provided free "services" for Logan and Scofield Boys. A few days later, Muny's body gradually recovered. When Di Anabel Herr offered to provide him with free "services" out of gratitude, Mooney refused. He told Di Anabel that he didn't want to be sorry for his wife.

After recovery, Mooney and his two companions found the two cowboys who hurt Di Anabel hector in a valley according to the clues they inquired. They are printing paper money for calves with their companions. Logan aimed at a cowboy who caused the accident and shot him, and then he began to regret it. Manny picked up his gun and fired several shots, hitting the injured cowboy in the abdomen. The latter struggled to climb behind a big stone and shouted at his companion in fear. Manny, moved by sympathy, stopped shooting and asked his companions to come to the rescue. But he knew that the injured cowboy would eventually die slowly. Three people left the valley. Logan got tired of Manny's behavior and left alone. Mooney and Scofield Boys came to the Cowboys' compound to ambush them. Soon, another cowboy who caused the accident walked out, followed by "Scofield Boy" under Manny's guidance, and fired three shots in succession, killing him. Then the two men rolled over and got on the horse, dodging the bullets of the chasing cowboys.

Under a big tree in the wild, Mooney accepted money from Di Anabel, and at the same time learned from her that Logan was caught by thugs sent by Bill on his way home, took back the whisky and tortured to death. Angry Manny braved the storm and rushed back to town alone, determined to avenge his old friend. At this time, the "Scofield Boy" who was killed for the first time also tried to get away from this matter. He left Manny in a hurry without even taking the reward.

That night, outside the thin man's bar, Manny saw the body of an old friend in an open coffin, displayed at the door, with two burning torches on both sides. Mooney walked into the bar. Complacent Bill is bragging about his partner. When he turned around, he saw Mooney, who looked grim, raise his rifle at him. Stunned Bill watched Mooney shoot and kill "skinny" Du powys. Then Mooney pointed the gun at Bill and pulled the trigger. The gun didn't go off Bill grinned and pulled out his pistol, but Manny moved faster. He pulled out a revolver at his waist like lightning and fired several shots at Bill, who fell down. Then Manny killed several of Bill's associates in succession. Only Beacham survived and escaped from the bar with his record. After the revenge, Mooney went to the bar, poured a glass of wine and took a sip. At this time, he found that Bill was still alive. He picked up a long rifle, connected the barrel with the handle, loaded it, aimed at Bill lying on the ground and pulled the trigger.

Manny walked out of the bar and finally took a look at his old friend Logan, who was lying in the coffin, and slowly rode his horse in the wind and rain. He loudly told the town residents hiding in the dark to bury Logan's body, and announced to them that if anyone dares to hurt anyone in the future, he will be unforgiven. With that, he rode away into the night.

A few years later, the prestigious Mooney left his farm with his children and became a wealthy businessman in San Francisco. ...

Distinguish and appreciate

In the early 1990s, kevin costner's Dancing with Wolves won seven Academy Awards, which brought new glory to American westerns that were declared dead several times. A year later, Clint Eastwood, a film veteran, made another breakthrough just like his role in the film. He directed and starred in another western film "Unforgettable Tonight" and won four gold medals, including best film and best director. As a result, the resurgence of western films has become an important landscape in Hollywood film industry in the 1990s.

Western movies, which were born almost at the same time as American movies, have always been one of the standard myths about American history and culture created by Hollywood. The story of cowboy hero's individualism and the establishment of law and order in the wilderness has been accepted by the public as a symbol of the so-called "American spirit". With the change of American social atmosphere after World War II, this myth began to be gradually dismantled and dispelled by the "elegy" westerns that appeared at that time-the cowboy who was good at getting rid of violence and skillful in marksmanship turned into a robber with wild heart and bloodthirsty nature, and the vast and magical western wasteland that gave birth to heroic epic became a dirty killing slaughterhouse. The conquest of barbarism by civilization that has been lurking behind western legends has been replaced by the release of human violent nature. At that time, as the "main theme" on the American screen, western movies began to become one of the modes for new directors to reflect on American traditional values, and the traditional western myths gradually faded. However, the history of westerns did not end there. In fact, the significance of western films set in the period of American western development to the American public has far exceeded the value of an ordinary genre film. As a confirmed national myth or historical romance, whether it is dismantled or reproduced, it will arouse public interest. In 1980s, western films represented by Long-distance Knight, Paradise Gate and Pale Knight made a comeback twice. In the 1990s, westerns rose again with a richer appearance, and became the best Oscar film twice after 60 years. This undoubtedly makes westerns and their seemingly lasting charm even more striking.

American westerns in 1990s began with costner's radical subversion of traditional myths, and he just tried it in this type of field. Under the leadership of Clint, a veteran film actor who is famous for starring in westerns, westerns are more closely related to their historical changes.

Since 1960s, Eastwood has been playing cowboy hero in western movies, so he has won the reputation of "evergreen tree" in western movies. At the same time, he is also one of the representatives who changed the traditional route of western films since 1960s, and is often compared with john wayne, another big-name figure who changed the status of western films. This also makes his western works have multiple value orientations. In Unforgettable Man, Eastwood continues the reflective exploration of western myths in the mainstream consciousness of the United States since the 1960s with a rather serious face. In the past, westerns were mostly blue sky, which was replaced by a gloomy rainy night tone. The clear binary pattern of loyalty and treachery and the opposition between good and evil no longer exists. There are no good people in the traditional sense in the film; Each character bears his own heavy sin. The town sheriff Bill established a "civilized" order by relying on brutality and tyranny, and the injured * * * obviously has the crime of self-reproach. Manny, the savior of justice, was originally a Jiang Yang thief and a fugitive, who once killed three local security officials. Only Logan is a little brighter. However, his behavior of abandoning his friends halfway finally violated the cowboy's loyalty and brave spirit, which made his final death by violent punishment almost become a metaphor denied by the western spirit. These characters make the unforgettable people have unprecedented moral ambiguity, and also make the western legends load so many evils for the first time.

This film not only subverts the characters in traditional westerns (including the famous scene of Manny struggling to climb on horseback, and the picture linking Manny with the images of a group of pigs-it makes the cowboy heroes galloping on horses in traditional westerns no longer heroic), but also completely destroys the narrative foundation on which traditional westerns rely to produce fascinating plots and actions. In the film, "disfigurement" and "revenge" constitute the motive force of the plot, but Di Anabel Hull's disfigurement stems from her ridicule of the cowboy. This makes the revenge in the film lack the color of moral justice As an American film critic pointed out, the plot of the whole film and the motives of the characters' behavior are actually based on a series of lies: the cowboy who caused the accident said that he cut Di Anabel Hector because the latter stole his wallet (he obviously tried to hide his incompetence and shirk his moral responsibility), while * * * lied about how much money the recruited killer could get and tried to exaggerate his injuries. Of course, swindlers also include local police chief Bill Jr, who interprets his tyranny as the patron saint of kindness and order. Even Manny seems to have fallen into the trap of lying. One of the "big lies" he told was that he finally resumed killing after repeatedly assuring his wife that he would never kill again. With this series of "lies", the film stripped away the rationality and myth of gun battle, revenge and heroism in western traditional films, making it a predatory and primitive violent impulse. Therefore, the film specially arranged the image of Beacham, a third-rate novelist, who specialized in recording and compiling lies. It reveals the true source of the so-called western myth and satirizes the popular novelist who originally created this myth.

However, although Eastwood mercilessly exposed the myth of the west, he did not intend to and could not fundamentally belittle the spirit of the west, which has been regarded as a god by the American public. As an action star who is famous for starring in westerns, he even misses the traditional "American hero". Therefore, after deconstructing the western myth in line with the historical trend, in the second half of the film, when his old friend Logan was brutally killed and Manny finally found a moral foothold for his revenge, Eastwood immediately restored him to the heroic spirit of the former western hero. In the scene where Bill and his accomplices were finally killed, the audience saw a gun battle scene in a bar in a classic western film: Manny was suddenly as agile as a god, missed a shot, and the evil villains were killed one by one. The remolding of this hero cowboy not only comes from Eastwood's personal nostalgia, but also is a response of Hollywood film industry led by mainstream American ideology to the psychological needs of contemporary American public. The end of the cold war once made American citizens who had been worried about "East-West confrontation" for decades ecstatic. However, people soon found that the United States, known as the "only winner", was as old as Manny in A New Era. In this regard, the audience undoubtedly need to prove their hope from Mooney's later courage-that is, whether the American "old cowboy" can find a moral foothold again like the last Mooney, so as to revive the spirit of the West. deus ex is in a dilemma. In this regard, this film starring four old movie stars over 55 years old can be said to have not let many famous audiences live in vain.

Clint Eastwood, the director and star of this film, was born in 1930. He began to enter Hollywood in the 1950s, and his performance in a western TV series "Raw Cowhide" began to emerge in the late 1950s. Later, he returned to the screen, starring in nearly 40 films so far, and began his directing career in the 1970s. Eastwood is famous for playing a tough guy on the screen and has become an idol in the public's mind to promote good and punish evil. His successful works include a large number of gangster movies represented by Dirty Harry and several famous spaghetti westerns directed by Italian director Sergio Leon, such as Good, Evil and Ugly. His own western films include Plateau Knight, Pale Knight and other classic works of 1970s and 1980s. When talking about Manny, the hero of His Unforgetted Man, Eastwood pointed out that what he tried to achieve through this character was the denial of violence, that is, because of past sins, a person could not re-choose his own path and could only fall into the whirlpool of violence again. However, the French film handbook magazine attributed the film to the exposure and criticism of American interventionism from a more politicized perspective.