Our man Clint
Clint Eastwood has done it again. One of filmdom's veritable giants has critics raving about his latest release Mystic River. His respect within the industry is only matched by his durable box-office appeal through a career that has spanned over four decades. Actor, director, producer and one of the most prolific and versatile artists in the history of cinema, he has touched generations of moviegoers with auspicious credits that have carried him beyond the new millennium.
His uniqueness in combining so often responsibilities with such excellence, starring in 55 films, directing 24 and producing l9, has left him with an ongoing body of work without peer. Now his powerful Mystic River is said to be his best film yet. A murky and unrelenting modern epic with Shakespearean dimensions, it is set in the streets of Mystic River, a Catholic working class community in South Boston. Based on the 2001 best- selling crime novel by Dennis Lehane, the film takes us on a journey into the dismal darkness of the tortured soul. It is classic Eastwood, classic film noir -- American style.
Virtuoso performances by all cast members of this murder mystery, headed by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, has critics howling for Oscar gold; "I have had the absolute best cast I have ever assembled," boasted the delighted director, who does not star in the picture, but confined himself to his seat behind the camera, happy to pass on the baton to his younger cast, who respond magnificently in this rivetting drama of crime and punishment. The film and its actors are at their best when acknowledging the tragedy of inarticulate men "banging their heads against fate".
The tragic tale unfolds in a creepy prologue about three 11-year-old boys, Jimmy, Dave and Sean, playing on their street when one of them, Dave, is abducted by two rough pedophiles parading as cops. He is locked for days in a basement, suffering something unspeakable. He escapes a week later, damaged for life, and so are his friends. They are re-united 30 years later when another traumatic event shatters their neighbourhood. Nineteen-year- old Kate, Jimmy's daughter is kidnapped and murdered; Sean is the investigating officer and Dave is a suspect. The bonanza cast leaves viewers absorbed and shaken by this heartbreaking slice of human tragedy. Actor Sean Penn, galvanising as Jimmy, has been handed the role of a lifetime. The actor "scorches the screen with his anguish and angry vengefulness".
Scriptwriter Bruce Helgeland (LA Confidential, 1997) weaved a richly textured screenplay of a multi- generational tragedy, exploring themes of good and evil, guilt and innocence, anger and revenge, "a mournful meditation on America's heritage of violence".
Not since Unforgiven (1992) has Eastwood taken on such a gripping voyage into the edge of night. "Our man Clint" has come a long way since our first memory of him 40 years ago in Sergio Leone's trilogy of "Spaghetti Westerns". As an unknown, starring as "the man with no name", in A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1964-1966), he not only became memorable, but an international household name.
A child of the Depression, Clint Eastwood was born in San Francisco, in 1930. His parents travelled up and down the California Coast looking for work, settling in Oakland, where Clint graduated from Oakland Technical School in l948. He worked at odd jobs, until he was called to military duty. While in the army, he met television actors David Janssen and Martin Milner, who suggested he get a screen test in Hollywood. Universal Studios signed him on as a contract player for $75 dollars a week, featuring him in such forgettable B-pictures, as Lady Godiva and Tarantula (1955), which took him nowhere. It was television that brought him recognition and made him a star, highlighting his rugged looks in the successful Western series Rawhide. Following a six-year run, Eastwood travelled to Italy, and the Italian productions gained him worldwide popularity. With such undeniable clout, he was able to star and direct his first film on his return to the US Play Misty For Me (1971) a psychological thriller that became an immediate hit. Eastwood was now a Hollywood player to be reckoned with. He chose his next project with careful and methodical intelligence, and with the help of director Don Siegel, the second man to fashion his life after Leone. His portrayal of the contentious San Francisco cop, Harry Callahan, better known as Dirty Harry (1971) touched a nerve with a public, frustrated with the limitations of law enforcement. His provoking phrase: "Go ahead, make my day" has become indispensable in American vernacular. Dirty Harry spawned 5 sequels, including Magnum Force (1973) and Dead Pool (1988)
The hardest of all of man's pursuits is the pursuit of justice. Eastwood became the vigilante rebel meting out Providence's justice, when the law of the land could not. He was the champion of the helpless, yet he never sacrificed his humanity, leaving us with a strong personal and permanent screen persona, that we cherish. In a prevalent ambiance of frivolity and fickleness, Eastwood stands alone, sullen, serious, steadfast. His many dazzling talents and refined artistry shines best in his direction where he flourishes with brilliance, turning out thoughtful character studies, as in A Perfect World (1993), the revisited Western Unforgiven (1992), which won him 4 Oscars, and now the haunting Mystic River, the crowning of a lustrous career: "...I've always been fascinated with the stealing of innocence..." This versatile and most prolific superstar is not only a consummate filmmaker, but also a consummate musician; "If I were not making films, I would be making music." Clint Eastwood has composed thematic music and songs for 11 pictures, including the melody for Unforgiven, Bridges of Madison County and Mystic River. He has always loved music, played piano in small clubs in his youth, and reveres jazz as one of the purest American art forms, like the Western. He devoted two of his films to music and musicians, Bird about Jazz saxophonist Charlie 'Bird' Parker, and Honky Tonk Man about a country Western singer. His successful soundtrack albums have been a consistent Eastwood signature.
No "Merchant" or "Ivory", addressing his public from fine drawing rooms with elegant lace-clad ladies sipping tea, his concrete realities, destined to flutter their hour, come from the streets, which he walks with cool and quiet grace, bringing the hum of life to ring loud and clear throughout his films.
His love affair with women is well documented on and off the screen. The beating heart of a woman, the duality of her vulnerability and strength, have inspired him in film after film. He was married twice, for 25 years to Maggie Johnson,(1953-1978), and recently to Dina Ruiz (1996). He has 7 children, 3 from both marriages and four from other liaisons through the years.
Despite endless honours and awards for past achievements, his work has a destiny still unfulfilled. He is still wholly engaged in creating movie magic, filling more glowing pages in the history of cinema. He seeks to entertain, which he does with superb skill, but there comes a moment in every film when he quietly breaks your heart.
His iconic status will reach new heights with the release of Mystic River, which prompts the question from one and all: "How did you get there?" He answered a BBC interviewer thus: "this reminds me of that old joke about the guy who asks a cab driver how to get to Carnegie Hall, and the cab driver answers 'Practice, practice, practice' " .
"It is easy to run out of superlatives describing this film," writes one critic. It is even easier to run out of superlatives describing "our man Clint". One of Cinema's rare masters, to know Clint Eastwood through his films is one of the good things of life.
C a p t i o n :
Clint Eastwood, getting better with age!
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 6 - 12 November 2003 (Issue No. 663)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/663/pe2.htm