The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Clint Eastwood
August 28th 2007 11:41
Big-time Hollywood actor, director and producer – it doesn’t look like this seventy-seven year old will be lining up for the pension any time soon. Quite simply, the man is a legend, and it’s hard to find anything bad, or ugly, about him. The grey hair and craggy face just seem to add to his enduring appeal.
Eastwood soared to international fame in the mid-sixties for a trio of Spaghetti-Westerns, A Fist Full of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and of course, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. But it was the Dirty Harry movies in the seventies, in which he played the title role, which immortalised him. As Harry Callahan, Eastwood was something else. With stony expression and a ruthless sense of morality, he delivered such famous lines as “Go ahead, make my day”.
Decades later, Eastwood is still going strong. He had Mystic River in 2003, where he displayed his directing skills to maximum effect, and followed it up with Million Dollar Baby the year after, winning the Best Picture Oscar and the Academy Award for Best Director.
And now he has achieved a remarkable double, something rarely done, and seldom done successfully. He made two movies showing the same story from two different sides, with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Somehow, the man manages to convince his audience of the heroism, and the humanity, of the Allies and the Japanese respectively. Iwo Jima is a stunning movie and a true testament to the power of Eastwood. The script was originally written in English before being fully translated into Japanese, but even without the use of subtitles, the message gets across. It truly speaks for itself.
Michaelie Clark
A Hot Young Harry. Courtesy of film.guardian.co.uk
Decades later, Eastwood is still going strong. He had Mystic River in 2003, where he displayed his directing skills to maximum effect, and followed it up with Million Dollar Baby the year after, winning the Best Picture Oscar and the Academy Award for Best Director.
A more elderly Eastwood. Courtesy of californiamuseum.org
Michaelie Clark
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Yes, good old Clint hasn't done too badly considering he was once fired from a movie for having an Adam's apple that was too big!
Michaelie
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Michael Cimino's Thunderbolt and Lightfoot being my favourite. The Outlaw Josey Wales never gets enough love either.
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