gran torino (2009)

part two in my current series of academy award "upsets"....

i kid of course, its just a funny coincidence that i saw "i've loved you so long" and "gran torino" back to back, but quite why clint eastwood was all but missing from this years oscars seems a tad odd to me, especially if you take into account the fact that this may well be the last time we see him up on the silver screen. let's just ponder that thought for a moment; clint eastwood, american icon, hell, american IDOL, may well have performed his final performance. its the end of an era, of that of the great american motion picture. a symbol of the old hollywood that no longer exists. what with newman passing last year, eastwood is one of the few familiar strands from yesterday.

"gran torino" originally existed as the final chapter in eastwood's "dirty harry" series, yet prior to hiiting the screen the character has seemingly become an amalgamation of several of eastwood's key roles. we see the obvious, be it harry callahan or ben shockley (courtesy of "the gauntlet"), and the not so obvious in the shape bronco billy (providing the light humour over the dark themes). the role certainly seems to be a celebration of eastwood's career, and the fact that the film exists in such a workmanlike and unglamourous fashion is a testament to eastwood's no-nonsense attitude. if "gran torino" does prove to be eastwood's final role then it will mark an outstanding era of american cinema in a suitably just fashion, although personally i dont see him quitting just yet...

firefox (1982)

a surprisingly successful attempt at post-star wars casual science fiction for clint eastwood, with the film boasting a much more experimental element than one would have expected. eastwood fuses casual sci-fi with the espionage thrillers he was familiar with at the time of the films production to combine a winning formula. the advertised notion of a plot revolving around a super-fi jetplane takes a back seat for the first hour, as we see eastwood's vietnam vet attempt to infiltrate the russian military. the latter half of the film takes place on and around the plight aboard the plane, in a vein that is perhaps the direct opposite of similiar fare like "top gun". "firefox" is to be commended as a very different piece of work to the usual clint eastwood film, and it succeeds much better than expected.

pale rider (1985)

it amazes me just how much variation clint eastwood brought to the western genre. from the days of "rawhide", through the european revisionist time of the dollars trilogy (wherein he learnt his craft), the late 70's revisionist period he kickstarted with "the outlaw josey wales" and the 90's post-modern of "unforgiven", he has continually managed to update what is considered by many to be an overly familiar genre. "pale rider" fell between "the outlaw josey wales" and "unforgiven", with eastwood starring as a mysterious preacher with a mysterious past.

as is to be expected with the later work of eastwood, we are given the topics of fidelity and authoritarian abuse to deal with. the anti-corporate message underlying the plight of the gold miners is clearly a reaction to the politics and business ethics pf the 1980's.

letters from iwo jima (2006)

"letters from iwo jima" marks a distinct departure from the type of work one would expect from clint eastwood. for a start, the films dialogue is pretty much all in japanese, a bold undertaking for an american filmmaker. im going to use ''letters from iwo jima'' as a point with which to examine the myth that east wood is racist. people get mixed up with the character of dirty harrys right wing stance and him. eastwood cleared a lot of paths for the preconceptions of black people in his films (see the drug dealer in ''dirty harry'' and the morgan freeman character in ''unforgiven'', one that shatters the legacy of one of americas only true artforms - the western). funnily enough it was spike lee, hollywoods resident loudmouth race card playing has-been that accused eastwood of maintaining such a stance, based solely on the untrue premise that there are no black soldiers in ''flags of our fathers" (the companion piece to "letters from iwo jima"). frankly this claim is riduculous, especially when you consider the place of "letters from iwo jima" in this equation. personally i find lee's recent picture "miracle at saint anna" to be a much more thinly veiled racist attack upon american and white culture. seriously, were living in 2009, there is a black president in the white house and still spike lee manages to have a chip on his shoulder. maybe the guy should concentrate on making a decent film instead of constantly being pseudo-offended by the white man.

its interesting to compare the way in which the japanese are portrayed on screeen in "letters from iwo jima" to the way in which the japanese are portrayed in michael bay's work. they are no longer the one sided pastiches that they appear to be in "armageddon" and are instead fully fledged human beings! its refreshing to see an american filmmaker take such a stance. maybe spike lee should aim his hate in the general direction of michael bay... for once we get to see the different side of the story. we see how afraid and doubtful of their cause the men that would generally be categorised as "evil" really were, and we get to see the nobility of the men too. the scene in which a large number of the soldiers commit suicide is incredibly moving, but at the same time incredibly tense. having not seen "flags of our fathers" recently enough to compare fairly i cant say definitively, but im sure that i didnt feel as moved during that film as i did here.

stylistically the film marks a bit of a departure from the usual war effort. we get to see the action from the point of view of the attacked, which while as a notion is hardly unique, the manner within which it is cut is. we never see the faces of the attacking fighter pilots, or the ensuing soldiers (except for pivotal moments), and as such we never have an opportunity to engage with them as characters, pushing our emotional attachment towards the japanese. the initial bombing campaign on the island is shot from the level of the soldiers themselves. we see bombs hit at head height, we see men fall around us, men whom we had only moments earlier engaged with as viewers, and we feel baron nishi's pain wholeheartedly as he tends to his dying horse. there is a wonderful moment, that lasts literally just that, of a japanese flag flying atop a mound. this draws obvious parallels with the famous image of the american flag atop iwo jima, and reminds the viewer of what is still to come. its a magnificent subtle moment, and a testament to the subtlety of eastwood's work.

changeling (2008)

my recent season of eastwood films comes to an end with the theatrical release of ''changeling''.

one could be excused for going into ''changeling'' expecting the angelina jolie-fest advertised within the pre-film press, alas i was surprised to find that the film was more of an ensemble piece than anything. and an incredibly well made one at that. my love of the work of clint eastwood's work is no secret, there is something incredibly appealing about his unique, almost "workmanlike-with-a-hint-of-auteur" style, and it lends itself especially well to tough topics such as child abuse (mystic river), euthanasia (million dollar baby) and now the subject of child murder and the loss of said child. eastwood thrives off of the kind of topics that dont need nor warrent over the top camera work or glossy special effects, a habit which hints at a huge amount of respect on the behalf of the filmmaker.

the cast is incredibly strong an ensemble, with special notices going to michael kelly as the detective that actually attempts to detect, john malkovich as the pastor that serves to reek justice against the corrupt los angeles police force and jason butler harner as child killer gordon northcott. its butler harner in particular that stands out, in what is perhaps the finest turn as a serial killer-type seen all year.

while the ending of the film is considered bleak by many, it actually carries a fairly high degree of hope.

coogan's bluff (1968)

early-era eastwood that satisfies greatly. i would say more, but frankly im a little bit worn out when it comes to discussing eastwood at the moment!

the enforcer (1976)

eastwood's third outing as dirty harry see's our eponymous hero dealing with such arduous challenges as discrimination and progression. for here we see harry partnered with a female inspector whilst having to deal with a gang of socialist terrorists. kinda. its fairly confusing as to what exactly the terrorists represent, but its some sort of veiled attack on socialism by the producers i think. oh and one of them is a priest of sorts. its all a bit odd really, but harry as a character is so entertaining that all of these problems are disguised adequetly.

it was with "the enforcer" that i noticed that the dirty harry films are kind of like an alternative bond franchise. it has a similiar structure to each episode, much in the same manner that the bond films work.

bronco billy (1980)

when i set out on the current task of working through the back catalogue of clint eastwood i knew that the job would involve some dubious pictures, largely in the shape of an orangutan named clyde. i have to admit that i lumped bronco billy in with the wave of eighties eastwood films that were basically poor comedy-action hybrids, but i couldnt have been more wrong. bronco billy is ridicuously enjoyable. sure the film has its problems, the storyline involving sandra locke's stranded millionaress heir is a bit ditracting, but the general concept is really strong.

joe kidd (1972)

fairly average mid-career eastwood, ably directed by john sturges. while the film is plenty entertaining, its hardly revolutionary cinema.

breezy (1973)

"breezy" was the first clint eastwood film not to star clint eastwood himself, its appropriate that its the first none-clint starring film that iv viewed on this run. having not previously seen the film, i was pleasantly surprised by the slow, assured nature of the drama, which is reminiscent of martin scorsese's "alice doesn't live here anymore" (1974) in style, and hal ashby's wonderful "harold and maude" (1971) in subject. "breezy" would make an interesting double bill alongside ashby's film, as both deal with "may to december"-style relationships, albeit with a spin on the couples (with "breezy" featuring an older gentleman with a younger girl, and "harold and maude" looking at an elderly woman and young man). while "harold and maude" looks at the relationships with comedy the focus, "breezy" takes a psychological and dramatic stance, and while its clear that both films deal with similar material, its fairly apparent just how different the two films are.

william holden plays the aging male lead, known as "black cloud" to the young, stereotypical "flower child" breezy, a girl who is seemingly so optimistic that nothing gets to her. the only holden performance seen by myself to date is in sam peckinpah's "the wild bunch" (1969), obviously a fairly different role!

it will become more apparent how and where exactly "breezy" fits into eastwood's oeuvre as my season goes along. it will be especially interesting to see how it sits alongside his other none-starring films.

magnum force (1973)

the follow up to dirty harry doesnt reach the heights of its predecessors but it does raise some interesting notions. for a start we receive an insight into harry's personal politics, revealing much of his character. for example, the presumed rebel without a cause of the first film, with his instinctful, shoot from the hip attitude is revealed to be more of a rebel within reason, when confronted with some genuinely provocative workmates. a respect for order from the chaotic maverick is found, and while it may be considered contradictory a trait by some, i would argue that it adds a level of depth to the character that was previously missing.

of course there are a couple of qualms with the project. for a start the age old rule of sequel's going for the "bigger is better" attitude of including more villains applies here, and while david soul is surprisingly creepy, hes no match for andrew robinson as the previous films scorpio, nor are the assortment of other bad guys. also, the previous film ended with harry effectively quitting the force, by throwing his badge into the watering hole that signified scorpio's demise, yet no mention of this is made by harry (or indeed anyone else) throughout magnum force.

dirty harry (1971)

its been a while since i had seen dirty harry, at least four years. in those four years david fincher's masterful "zodiac" (2007) has been and gone, and one of my big worries that came with that films success was that i may not be able to take don seagal's unofficial take on san fransisco's zodiac killing's seriously under this new light. im pleased to report that that wasnt the case, and that i can extend my disbelief far enough to forgive any of the films shortcomings, at least when it comes to the very hollywood take on what was a pretty distressing period in san francisco' recent history.

san fransisco is the unbilled co-star in the first dirty harry film. in fact it was through this viewer's research of the city of san fransisco that he found out about the film, from an academic point of view at least. a few years back i was looking at sitting my masters degree at the san fransisco academy of art, when, through the program for the university, in a section on notable films shot in the city that i first delved into this, the first in eastwood's flagship franchise (alongside such other films as hitchcock's "vertigo" (1958) and orson welles' often overlooked "the lady from shanghai" (1947); incidently, soon to be remade, in name at least, by wong kar-wai)

the character of 'scorpio', billed simply as "the killer" in the credits of the film, is based loosely on that of the zodiac killer. i say loosely because very little was known about the zodiac killer, as anyone who's seen fincher film will attest to. the style of the character is drawn from that of the zodiac, the way the character manipulated and used the media to accomplish his task is exagerated in "dirty harry" (see the use of the media during the killers scene in the hospital, post staged-beating) from that of the real case, and while little focus is made of the print industry's involvement, mention is made.


joker
sinatra

space cowboys (2000)

space cowboys represents clint eastwood's first and only (to date) venture into the realms of borderline science fiction. it tells the story of four elderly former trainee astronauts, led by eastwood himself, who never originally had the opportunity to make the journey into space when they were actually supposed to. anyway basically a system that only they know how to use breaks down and its up to them to head into space to fix said problem.

the film has taken a lot of flack in the past, and has largely been forgotten (to be honest i thought it was much older than ten years old) by many, but i actually found it really enjoyable. yes the story is ridiculous, and yes, on paper at least, its a very tired conceit, but the reality of it is that its a very enjoyable and largely FUN film. the ending is a great example of a great fairytale ending too, simply wonderful.

in terms of fitting in alongside the rest of eastwood's oeuvre, im not sure exactly where "space cowboys" fits in. it follows in the log tradition of eastwood's habit of turning genre's on their heads and approaching them from a unique or post-modern angle, films such as "the outlaw josey wales", "million dollar baby" and "mystic river".

the outlaw josey wales (1976)

clint eastwood's fifth film as a director is perhaps his most remarkable. "the outlaw josey wales" is simply an utter joy of a film, turning the western and revenge genre's on their respective heads and pushing the boundaries of hollywood drama.

everybody knows the story of how "the outlaw josey wales" is an analogy for the war in vietnam, so i wont explore that concept here. i like looking at the film as a predecessor to the modern vogue of taking a hero and emphasising the concept that the hero in question is out of their time. this is where any similiarities bear to real conflict, be it vietnam, iraq or the battle of endor, and their heroes (read victims) are strongest.

the modern western, in the shape of "the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford" (2007) and "there will be blood" (2007) take a lot of inspiration from eastwood's film, in fact its probably not an overstatement to suggest that "the outlaw josey wales" paved the way for the aforementioned films, as well as countless others (not forgetting eastwood's own "unforgiven").

play misty for me (1971)

clint eastwood's directorial debut shines as an example of a debut turn. the film carries elements of the horror genre, but rather than exploiting those themes in the usual manner, eastwood places the drama in the quasi-realistic realm of that of a borderline-celebrity local radio disc jockey. interestingly enough, like 'bigger than life', 'play misty for me' is reminiscent of 1962's 'cape fear', albeit for different reasons maintaining the same key ingredient - tension.

in terms of directorial debut's the film is regarded fairly highly, and for good reason too. its an engaging and very successful film, maintaining the attention of the viewer throughout, as the layers of tension move forward to an unpredictable, in the sense of mood rather than narrative, climax.

unforgiven (1992)

clint eastwood's most successful film, and indeed one of the most successful films of all time (critically at least) is one that i hadnt personally revisited for almost ten years. im a big fan of westerns, and have always considered john ford's 'the searchers' (1956) to be the piec de resistance example of the post-modern western, pre-dating unforgiven for the best part of forty years. in retrospect, rather than considering unforgiven to be 'the searchers' lesser, i should have considered it to be a post-modern take on a different genre of film. i was naive to think of a genre as well worn as the western to be as short sighted as just that - a genre, when i fact its much more.

clint eastwood plays william munny, a retired gunslinger tempted back into the field with the premise of one last job.

the gauntlet (1977)

considered by many to be a post-modern take on the dirty harry style of detective drama, the gauntlet is very much a guilty pleasure. loosely remade a few years back as 16 blocks, a bruce willis vehicle, the gauntlet tells the story of a deadbeat cop given the task of transporting an important witness from location to location.

the poster above pretty much indicates the nature of the film, but in all honesty it actually lets the film down in one respect, as it barely does justice in getting the quality of the film across. its a great deal of fun.

P.S i think this film may hold the record for most bullets fired in a film. the final shootout is beyond crazy, putting to shame the sort of modern day action theatrics seen in films like "wanted" or the like.

clint eastwood season.

to celebrate the release of clint eastwood's newest film, changeling, next week, i have decided that an eastwood retrospective is in order. someone claimed recently that eastwood is america's finest living filmmaker, a moniker usually reserved for martin scorsese, or at a push steven spielberg. as a big fan of eastwood (albeit not as big as i am a fan of scorsese) i can definately see where the person in question is coming from, though im not sure i agree. the breadth of eastwood's work is ridiculously epic, he covers pretty much every genre, and in the last few years especially, he has covered these genre's in an enviable manner. to date my favourite eastwood film is probably mystic river. sean penn's performance is without par, and the film is just beautifully crafted. if you take into account the fact that eastwood directed and starred in million dollar baby less than twelve months later an idea of the mans consistency will be easily garnered. again, this can be seen in his war film double bill of two years back (flags of our fathers & letters from iwa jima) and in this years changeling and gran torino.

throughout the course of this season i shall be taking a look at the following -

the gauntlet (1977)
unforgiven (1992)
the outlaw josey wales (1996)
play misty for me (1971)
million dollar baby (2004)
the ENTIRE dirty harry series (1971-1988)

and maybe a couple more (im really tempted to give mystic river a run in the ol' dvd player, it all depends on time). the whole thing will culminate in seeing changeling at the cinema on the 28th.