The Unforgiven

Audrey Hepburn's short career is one of those extremely overrated ones. So I decided to take a closer look. This Belgian-born "miracle" of the 50s and 60s left an indelible mark in several simple genre films and in several controversial adaptations. And like the vast majority of Hollywood actors, at some point, she found herself needing to try a western as well. Which is especially spicy for European actors, for whom nothing is more unnatural. So is there anything memorable about The Unforgiven? Of course not. It is completely routine, where perhaps the only thing that raises eyebrows is the utterly pointless casting of Hepburn and (almost 70-year-old) Lilian Gish. A confusing, uninteresting, boring encounter with a rank-and-file western. A waste of time. (12/01/2020)

Considering that this film was made at a time when the US was experiencing one of the many waves of racial intolerance, the words "ordinary and boring" are the last that come to mind. On the other hand, all of the filmmakers should be commended for the way they have managed to combine the historical western setting with purely contemporary issues. Yes, the film would have benefited from a faster pace and all that, but it's the idea, the warningly raised index finger that John Huston used to say over the years: "Look, people have treated each other like this a few times before, and it hasn't done them any good." The actors probably don't need any commentary (Burt Lancaster's determined tough guy, and Audrey H., the most beautiful of all and acting the most natural), the storm search and the ending are legendary scenes for me, and I loved Tiomkin's classic music playing with the song “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah". (24/02/2013)

Western from the old school with a clearly defined romantic line, in a classic attire of good and evil, this time enriched by a surprising but more emphatic motif of racism. The first half is annoyingly monotonous, while the second is strongly above average in its seriousness. And I definitely cannot forget the theatrically semi-pathetic, but terribly adorable Audrey among the actors. In the end, it is definitely not a groundbreaking piece in any respect or genre, but rather a nostalgic comfort, undermined by sluggishness, excessive literalness, and above all, overstated pathos in dialogues. (04/02/2007)