Four-Star Films : ‘Unforgiven’

Simultaneously heroic and nihilistic, Clint Eastwood’s masterly 1992 Oscar winner (best picture) is a Western for those who cherish the form. The story of a reformed killer who confronts his past, “Unforgiven” is definitely as elegant in its own way as “The Wild Bunch” and “Ride the High Country.” It’s also a neat piece of revisionism, a violent film that is determined to demythologize killing. As William Munny, destitute Kansas farmer and recent widower with two young children, Eastwood reluctantly accepts an offer from a frontier town prostitute (Frances Fisher, pictured) to kill a pair of cowboys who cut one of her colleagues. The ensemble cast also includes Gene Hackman (left), Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris and Saul Rubinek (HBO Monday at 8 p.m.).

Other four-star films airing this week:

Pinocchio Disney, Sunday, 10 a.m., Saturday, 7:05 p.m.

Anatomy of a Murder Cinemax, Sunday, noon.

Stagecoach Bravo Monday, 9:30 a.m., again at 3 p.m.

The Devil and Daniel Webster Showtime, Tuesday, 5:15 a.m.

The Red Balloon Disney, Tuesday, 8:20 p.m.

Howards End Disney, Saturday, 1 a.m.