Unforgivenis a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples . The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming. A dark Western that deals frankly with the uglier aspects of violence and the myth of the Old West , it stars Eastwood in the lead role, with Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , and Richard Harris .

Eastwood dedicated the movie to deceased directors and mentors Don Siegel and Sergio Leone . The film won four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Hackman), Best Director , Best Film Editing and Best Picture . Eastwood himself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but he lost to Al Pacino forScent of a Woman. In 2004,Unforgivenwas added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The film was only the third western to win the Oscar for Best Picture followingCimarron(1931) andDances With Wolves(1990).

A group of prostitutes in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, led by Strawberry Alice ( Frances Fisher ), offers a $1,000 reward to whoever can kill Quick Mike (David Mucci) and Davey Bunting ( Rob Campbell ), two cowboys who disfigured Delilah Fitzgerald ( Anna Levine ), one of their own. This upsets the local sheriff, a former gunfighter known as Little Bill Daggett ( Gene Hackman ); an obsessive keeper of the peace who doesn't allow guns or criminals in his town, and had given the two men leniency despite their crime.

Miles away in Kansas, the Schofield Kid ( Jaimz Woolvett ), a boastful young man, visits the pig farm of William Munny ( Clint Eastwood ), seeking to recruit him to kill the cowboys. In his youth, Munny was a bandit who was notorious for being a vicious, cold-blooded murderer, but is now a repentant widower raising two children. Munny initially refuses to help with the assassination, but his pigs are sick, putting his children's future in jeopardy, therefore he reconsiders a few days later and sets off to catch up with the Kid. On his way, Munny recruits Ned Logan ( Morgan Freeman ), another retired gunfighter who reluctantly leaves his wife (Josie Smith) to go along.

Back in Wyoming, gunfighter English Bob ( Richard Harris ) and his biographer, W. W. Beauchamp ( Saul Rubinek ), arrive in Big Whiskey, also seeking the reward. Little Bill and his deputies disarm Bob, and Bill savagely beats him, hoping to set an example for other would-be assassins. The next morning Bob is ejected from town, but Beauchamp decides to stay and write about Bill, who has impressed him with his tales of old gunfights and seeming knowledge of the inner workings of a gunfighter's psyche.

Munny, Logan and the Kid arrive later amid a rain storm and go to the whorehouse to find out where the cowboys are. Munny has a bad fever after riding in the rain, and is sitting alone in the saloon when Little Bill and his deputies arrive to confront him. Little Bill has no idea who Munny is, and after finding a pistol on him he beats and kicks him out onto the street. Logan and the Kid, upstairs getting "advances" on their payment from the prostitutes, escape out a back window. The three regroup at a barn outside of town, where they nurse Munny back to health.

Three days later, they ambush a group of cowboys and kill Bunting – although it becomes apparent that Logan and Munny no longer have much stomach for murder. Logan decides to return home while Munny and the Kid head to the cowboys' ranch, where the Kid ambushes Quick Mike in an outhouse and kills him. After they escape, a very distraught Kid confesses he had never killed anyone before. When Little Sue (Tara Frederick) meets the two men to give them the reward, they learn that Logan was captured by Little Bill's men and tortured to death, but not before giving up the identities of his two accomplices. The Kid heads back to Kansas to deliver the reward money to Munny and Logan's families, while Munny heads into town to take revenge on Bill.

That night, Logan's corpse is displayed in a coffin outside the saloon. Inside, Little Bill has assembled a posse to pursue Munny and the Kid. Munny walks in and promptly kills Skinny Dubois ( Anthony James ), the owner and pimp of the prostitutes, then after a tense moment of dialogue with Bill, a violent gunfight ensues, leaving Bill wounded and most of his deputies dead. Munny orders everyone out – including Beauchamp, who unsuccessfully attempts an interview – and then stops Bill from reaching for his pistol. Bill curses Munny before the latter finishes him with a final gunshot. Munny threatens the townsfolk before finally leaving town, warning that he will return if Logan is not buried properly or if another prostitute is harmed.

The final scene is a bookend shot of Munny's farm, and of Munny paying a final visit to his wife's grave. The epilogue text that follows reads that Munny and his family were rumored to have moved to San Francisco and "prospered in dry goods".