Unforgiven Themes

“Unforgiven” is a classic anti-western western film directed by Clint Eastwood. It calls into question many of the classic elements of the western. There is no fine line between good vs bad, hero vs villain, or civilized vs savage. There are many scenes where Eastwood uses mis en scene to establish the core themes of the film. One of which is the scene where Eastwood’s character, Will Munny, is very sick with a fever after being seriously beaten by the town’s sheriff and the scene following that one.
Will and his partners are in a small barn during a severe storm. Will is going in and out of consciousness as he is laying on the ground next to the fire. His long time friend, Ned, watches over him. There is also a younger man by the name of the Schofield Kid that sits apart and watches
He speaks about seeing Eagle Hendershot, who he killed. He also speaks about seeing his dead wife, Claudia. Finally he says he sees the Angel of Death and how he fears he is dying. This scene may seem very simple at first, but there are many elements of mis en scene that really give more meaning to the scene.
All of the shots of Will are from a high angle. This could be seen as Ned’s point of view as he is looking down at Will. But it also represents Will’s weakness since he is being looked down on and is on the bottom left of the frame. The frames are also very tight with close-ups of the character’s faces. This implies how Will feels suffocated by how his inevitable death seems to be here at last and how, no matter what, he will have to face judgment for his past crimes. The tight framing can also mean that the other two characters feel as if there is nothing they can do now except wait the fever and the storm out to see if Will is going to survive. Character proxemics also play a role. Although Ned is above Will, the camera does not capture him at all when Will is speaking. So even though Ned is close by, Will is mentally distant