Right from the beginning, it's clear that The Unforgiven is a western in search of significance. The credit titles are backed up by a dust storm, a white moon in a blue-black sky, and a grim vision of cracked earth and cattle-skulls. The significance, once found, turns out to be familiar: this is a story of racial prejudice, deep-ingrained, acted out amid the also familiar tradition of the Western. The combination of familiarities is blended into a solemn-paced film that might occasionally give western addicts the fidgets, but compensates with spirited out-breaks of action and a fair share of visual poetry. (p. 21)