Clint Eastwood, le franc-tireur (2007 TV Movie) User Reviews

Too many clips

[blockstorm · 4/10 · 8 January 2019]

One of those annoying documentaries where large amounts of air time are filled with clips of the movies being discussed. We've seen the movies already! What we want to see is the interviewee talk about the movie. This could have been half the length.

When Clint Eastwood is talking however, the doc shines and is watchable. He has so much to say that's interesting and personal. Not very much that we don't already know from other sources but the interviewer has some good questions and he lets Eastwood speak.

Should have been so much better though. We could have heard plenty more interesting discussion if it weren't for the constant cutting to more clips, or the director showing ridiculous still picture montages with (quite honestly pretty bad) music playing.

Missed opportunity.

Clint Eastwood: A Life in Film

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 31 January 2021]

This film was not necessarily about the whole career of Clint Eastwood, it was followig him during the making of two of his films. Michael Henry Wilson follows Eastwood during the making of his two films set during different times and countries in the Second World War, the war drama Flags of Our Fathers, and the Japanese war drama Letters from Iwo Jima. Eastwood sits for a number of interviews and talks about growing up in Oakland, his formative years, his big break on television in Rawhide, his breakthrough in A Fistful of Dollars, The Storyteller (1971) which was Eastwood's first directorial effort, a short documentary about Don Siegel, his directorial feature film Play Misty for Me, with a cameo from Don Siegel, The Beguiled, Every Which Way But Loose being an unusual choice, directing biographical film Bird (1988), and Unforgiven, his Oscar winning feature, which was dedicated to Sergio and Don (Leone and Siegel). It features clips from his other popular films, which he starred in, directed, or both, including Bronco Billy (1980), Dirty Harry (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Pale Rider (1985), White Hunter, Black Heart (1990), The Bridgees of Madison County (1995), and Million Dollar Baby (2004). It also features many still black-and-white images of him in films, on and off screen. In his interviews, Eastwood discusses trying different genres, pushing himself, the challenges of directing, comparing filmmaking to jazz music, preparing for complex scenes, films having messages, hard pictures to make, choosing films with common little stories but lots of emotion, having an instinct and something telling you where to go, getting to a certain age, and looking back, his biggest break, and working in something he likes. It is really good to see Eastwood in the process of making his films, and his insights are interesting to hear, it could have been better with interviews from other people, but otherwise it was an alright documentary. Worth watching!