A while back, Tim posted a few articles about the theme of salvation in movies. An interesting idea. I responded that there were certain movies, such as Unforgiven, which were not about salvation at all, and that’s what makes them so interesting.

Well, I just watched Unforgiven again, and remembered why I thought, when I saw it the first time, it was such an amazingly good movie. And, yes, of course it’s all about salvation, but not really in normal ways. A pair of old killers, and a young killer, set out to kill some no-good low-down cowboys. Will, played by Clint Eastwood, spends most of the story insisting that he ain’t like that no more. And the kid spends most of the story insisting that he’s just as hard and unfeeling as Will was in the old days. Ned isn’t really sure that he wants to go along, but does, for his friend, and for old times’ sake.

I’ve always been a big fan of Eastwood’s “spaghetti westerns”, and this movie is, in a sense, a commentary on those movies, the values that they espouse, and the possibility of redemption. This is truly a great movie, and highly recommended. Not at all a traditional shoot-em-up western, but enough of that scattered around for those that like that sort of thing. It’s a western that makes you think, if you can believe that.