A Darker Side of Things

Will Munny's epic inner struggle between good and evil is a key point for the movie Unforgiven. When Will is introduced, he is done so as a reformed murderer and drunk. He claims that his wife has brought out the good side of him and that the evil ne'er-do-well is gone forever. At first, the audience accepts this as fact even though it seems a bit awkward that he keeps repeating the statement. As the story and Will's character progress and Will is still constantly repeating how his wife cured him of his miscreant behavior, it is clear that Will needs to make a constant and conscious effort to uphold this. On the surface, Will appears to be a fine relatively upstanding member of society. When he initially thinks of returning to the old life and pulls out his gun, he can't hardly shoot to save his life. When he tries to mount his old horse for the first time in years, he ends up splayed across the ground. After his first few stumbles, he gets into the swing of things.

For me, the moment I knew that the infamous Will Munny had returned was when he was riding into town to avenge Ned's death. There is a shot of the empty whisky bottle as Will throws it down into the muddy ground (in the rain, no less). For me, this is the moment when Will returns. He is no longer playing Mr. Nice Guy. Will is bloodthirsty, out for revenge, out to settle a few scores. Within minutes of the empty whisky bottle, Will Munny has hit his stride. He absolutely annihilates the men in the bar and is showing no remorse whatsoever. Even though this is where Will Munny clearly emerges as a bit of a "bad guy," the audience doesn't begrudge him for it. In their eyes, his actions are fairly justified. In a typical western mindset, Will is doing his duty. His best friend Ned was murdered which leaves Will no choice but to avenge his death in the only way he knows how. Everyone tries to deny it, and they really may hate themselves for it, but they are secretly elated that Will exacted his revenge. This is what movies can do to people. Little Bill got what he had coming to him. And whether we like it or not, we agree.