Current Clint
Even at 78 he is showing no signs of flagging. As he puts the finishing touches to one film, he is contemplating producton on another, one in which he will once come before the camera...
Clint Eastwood On...Changeling (2008, CLINT EASTWOOD) "It's a story that takes place in Los Angels in 1928 about a woman who's child goes missing so she tries to get the police department, which was very corrupt at that particular time, to do more," explains Eastwood of his latest film that recently debuted in Cannes. Loosely based on real events, the drama hinges around the point the child is found, when, amid a media frenzy, she realises it is not him. "They keep telling her she's crazy. They try to sort of bend her mind, to tell her that she's hallucinating. Remember the picture Gaslight? (an atmospheric George Cukor drama of 1944, starring Ingrid Bergman), I've gone for that feel. It's quite dramatic."
This is new territory for the ever versatile director, a noirish period drama with shades of LA Confidential (its overriding theme is police corruption) but perhaps with a more thought-provoking attitude as it examines the sexual politics of the Prohibition era - a time when women were not supposed to be outspoken. The distraught mother (Angelina Jolie), becomes the subject of a campaign of slander fomented by a secretive police department.
Having Jolie as your lead certainly gives it a provocative edge, and Eastwood couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome: "She's wonderful, she's wonderful," he beams like a proud father. "To me it's like she's a throw back to the women in film of the '40s. Not to say the women today aren't great, but back then there was more individuality, all the faces were different, they didn't have to same Botox look. Angelina has that great individuality, her own look and her own style and she's a terrific actress besides. I think she would have been just as big a name in that era than, the same as Katherine Hepburn and Bette Davis and Ingrid Birdman." In her turn Jolie found working with the esteemed Clint Eastwood a stimulating experience: "You've got to get your stuff together and get ready because he doesn't linger...which I think is wonderful. He expects people to come prepared and get on with their work."
THE ALTERNATIVE
Clint Eastwood On...Gran Torino (2009, CLINT EASTWOOD) "I might do this small one, a picture of about the same size as Million Dollar Baby, but different in style, yeah, it's one I would take a role in." Eastwood would play a grizzled Korean war vet who attempts to reform the Latino punk who tries to steal his prize car - the gran torino of the title. Straight away there are those classic Clint themes: age, race, communication across generations, micro America (it's to be set in Michigan). "There are very few roles that suit my senior status these days, but I still may have a couple, cards up my sleeve," he smiles.
Have Your Say
What's your favourite Clint Eastwood movie? Which do you prefer, Clint as director, star or both? Register or login now to have your say.
Your Comments
1
Posted on Saturday May 23, 2009, 18:01 by MysteriousMartian
EMPIRE I just want to express total gratitude for this article. I know it was out months ago, but ever since I read it I've become a fan of Clint Eastwood and am getting close to owning all of his films. He's the master!
Cheers :) Read More
2
Posted on Saturday May 23, 2009, 18:00 by MysteriousMartian
EMPIRE I just want to express total gratitude for this article. I know it was out months ago, but ever since I read it I've become a fan of Clint Eastwood and am getting close to owning all of his films. He's the master!
Cheers :) Read More
3
Posted on Friday February 20, 2009, 18:31 by evildave69
Yep, was in the mag a while back.
Good work Empire. Read More
4
Latino punk??? get it right
Posted on Friday February 20, 2009, 10:56 by dahdoc
Empire, it was not a Latino Punk in Gran Torino,
it was an Asian punk... Hmong possibly from the Vietnamese region...
you pride yourselves on making critical reviews yet you lack the motivation to make astute observations like this one. shame shame shame as Derryn Hinch would say...
Read More
5
Posted on Thursday February 19, 2009, 15:08 by robcas20
wasn't this in the magazine around 3/4 months ago?!?! Read More
6
Wow.
Posted on Thursday February 19, 2009, 14:48 by Martin1876
Love how up to date it is.
Naaaaht, as Borat would say. =P Read More
7
Both!
Posted on Thursday February 19, 2009, 14:47 by lukeyboy
I cant think of a single Clint Eastwood movie i don't like,...with him as actor or director!
As a director he is in a class of his own, his movies are well thought out and engaging and always seem to plod along at exactly the right pace. Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby especially were two of his films that really seriously affected me emotionally for days after i had seen them and Unforgiven and The Outlaw Josey Wales are the two best westerns ever,....period! (with Pale Rider coming in a close third!")
As an actor he is perhaps a little bit more limited in terms of the roles he can do, but he does what he does with gravitas and a towering presence that is rarely seen on screen then or now! He is more an iconic western actor than John Wayne was and IMO he's a better director than Martin Scorsese! .......As you can tell, i'm a big fan!
Good feature Empire, very fitting for a true Hollywood legend! Long live Clint! Read More
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