Eastwood, Lileks and me

[wombat_socho]

Lileks watched Flags of Our Fathers and didn't like it much.
A particularly telling quote:

I’m sure Eastwood intended the movie to be respectful, but sometimes it seems like the second half of his career has been spent apologizing for the first half.

There might be something to that. With a few exceptions, most of Eastwood's films have been fairly clear on who the heroes and villains are, even if the heroes weren't always terribly stainless and the villains weren't totally evil. They were also movies that spoke to middle American, blue-collar values such as justice, honor and truth. Unfortunately, starting with Million Dollar Baby, it seems like Eastwood's movies are becoming more aligned with the kind of nihilistic values that Hollywood normally applies to its movies, and that's unfortunate. There are dozens of directors who can do those movies, but only one Clint Eastwood.

Comments

[chebutykin.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, starting with Million Dollar Baby, it seems like Eastwood's movies are becoming more aligned with the kind of nihilistic values that Hollywood normally applies to its movies, and that's unfortunate.

While I don't agree with you that his recent turn towards more ethically complex plots is a bad thing, I would like to point out that Million Dollar Baby wasn't his first forray into this sort of thing. You forget that he made Unforgiven, which is a total deconstruction of everything he did before.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure about that. You can see foreshadowings of Unforgiven in High Plains Drifter and his Man With No Name character, so in a way Unforgiven is at the end of a track of "anti-Westerns", if you will.

[chebutykin.livejournal.com]

Also very true. But on a personal scale for Eastwood, the fact that he made Unforgiven is a notable turn in his career.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Sometime when I'm not living out of my suitcases, I need to sit down and indulge in a lot of Clint Eastwood westerns. Oddly enough, Unforgiven is one of the few I haven't seen.

[chebutykin.livejournal.com]

It's a truly remarkable film.