It’s a bit of a shame that most of the press attention at the Cannes Film Festival tends to go to the buzzy new films, while the Cannes Classics programming gets neglected. We get it, everyone wants to know about the hot new thing, but every year, the Croisette hosts some great classic films, often in stunning new restorations. And while Clint Eastwood‘s “Unforgiven” might not seem like it’s of the age to be considered part of the western genre canon, you may have forgotten the picture turns twenty-five years old this year.
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Eastwood’s terrific oater unspooled last month at Cannes, newly minted in a fresh, 4K restoration, and now it’s headed to the big screen (at least in the France). The film, which co-stars an always reliable Morgan Freeman and a deliciously slimy Gene Hackman, follows a retired gunslinger whose rousted for one more job. It’s a familiar set-up, but one that digs deeply into the weight of pulling the trigger, and taking a man’s life. Here’s the Cannes synopsis:
UNFORGIVEN is a modern classic that “summarizes everything I feel about the Western,” director/star Clint Eastwood told the Los Angeles Times. This American Film Institute Top 100 American Movies selection rode off with four 1992 Academy Awards®*, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman) and Editing (Joel Cox). Eastwood and Morgan Freeman play retired outlaws who pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty. Richard Harris is an ill-fated killer-for-hire. And Hackman is a lawman of sly charm… and chilling brutality. UNFORGIVEN is “a Western for the ages” (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times).
“Unforgiven” hits cinemas in France on June 21st, and let’s hope that restored version gets a stateside release too.
