John Hurt plays an acclaimed, reclusive English writer, detached from the modern world, who by chance sees a bawdy '90s college sex comedy and becomes infatuated with one of its stars, Jason Priestly.
I missed this on first release, so why not catch up now? I came for John Hurt, and this is very much his show, and he performs excellently. There are obvious and intentional parallels with Death in Venice. This is less uncomfortable, but still the skin crawls.
William Munny, widow, father to two youngsters, goes with his old partner, Ned, and the Schofield Kid to relive his merderous ways and collect the bounty on two cowboys, one of whom cut a woman on account she giggled at his pecker.
Unforgiven has accumulated status, because of what came before it, how there hadn't perhaps been much like it for a while; and since its release, the same being true; and for Clint still trudging on. I wonder if…
A hybrid of B-movie westerns of the 50's and Leone's spaghetti reboots; it never quite gels. There are some brilliant set pieces, but there is plenty that doesn't make sense, eg, every attempted shot kills someone, even if made by people who've supposedly never handled a gun before. So it remains a reasonably good B-movie western, but there are plenty better.
Extraordinary. I went with a good deal of skepticism, sat forward in my seat, prepared to see the joins, but, two minutes in I was weeping, overwhelmed. Hands-up, I was entirely unprepared for this step change of what is now possible in terms of audio visual experience. There is certainly a slight uncanny valley to it still - I think for the two men more than the women - but regardless, this is a game-changer. On one side, I am agape with the possibilities. On the other, I feel dirty with how much I've been emotionally manipulated.
