We review the best of his vast filmography with our favorite roles of the actor, from Harry Callahan to Walt Kowalski.
With ‘Mule’, Clint Eastwood he broke a voluntary retirement in front of the cameras that has lasted a decade, since, in 2009, he premiered ‘Gran Torino’, his last work as an actor-director, although in 2012 we saw him in ‘Golpe de effect’.
13 years ago, when FOTOGRAMAS interviewed him on the occasion of the premiere of ‘The Exchange’ (2009) and we asked him if he felt he was the greatest living American director, Clint Eastwood (San Francisco, 1930) replied that the only thing he felt was old. A trademark irony that she repeated when she assured us that, despite starring in ‘Gran Torino’ that same year, she didn’t miss acting at all. He may not, but the cinema has missed him.
Finally, and to our joy, Clint returned with ‘Cry Macho’, a film in which he shows that age is just a number. In this article we recall some of the brightest roles of him. Not all of them are there, of course – and surely there will be those who miss titles like ‘El seductor’ (1971), ‘A perfect world’ (1993) or eccentricities in his career, such as the musical ‘The Legend of the Nameless City’ ( 1969) or comedies like ‘Bronco Billy’ (1980)–, but the ones that are there show the greatness of one of the last Hollywood legends. Next we choose our favorite characters from his filmography.
Dirty Harry
A tough guy doesn’t hide a soft heart; in the case of inspector harry callahan hides a just heart that does not believe in justice. The widowed policeman who in this film and to the rhythm of the soundtrack of Lalo Schifrin inaugurated a saga of five films, not only has he gone down in cinema history for his sullen gesture, his 44 magnum and his famous phrases (such as “I know what you’re thinking: did I fire all six bullets or just five?” and above all, “make my day”). Sociological studies have been written about this anti-system, undisciplined and individualistic character questioning his peculiar and violent code of values. Far from taking it so seriously, his thing is to let himself be carried away by this urban cowboy (or if you prefer, this slum superhero whose mask is a pair of Ray-Ban RB4089 Balorama) who has made an icon of his particular pursuit of evil with a clean shot.
By Julieta Martialay
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
No poker games, no romances with girls from living room, nor gratuitous noble causes. An unlit cigar, a slow-motion squint and a poncho were enough for the “Man with no name”, the protagonist of the ‘Dollar Trilogy’ –‘For a Fistful of Dollars’ (1964), ‘Death Had a Price’ (1965) and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966)–, was eternalized as the great myth of our youth (laser swords aside). And let any outsider come to deny it. They are some of the best westerns in film history for a reason.
By Oscar Cabrera
no forgiveness
When, in 1981, Clint Eastwood first read the script for David Webb Peoples –whose title at that time danced between ‘Whore’s Gold’ and ‘The Cut-Whore Killings’–, he liked the story so much that he decided to keep it in a drawer and wait until he was old enough to embody William Munny of Missouri, the murderer of children and women. Ten years passed until Clint found himself wrinkled enough to embody this twilight character, saved from the hell of the Wild West by his wife, who pays for the sins of all the gunslingers while developing one of the most Fordian obsessions in the world. Eastwood manager: the forging of american myths. Like his own legend, that he was also born with a clean shot and consolidated with this film, his last western to date, an act of love, and forgiveness, towards the genre that elevated him. One of the best films that have won Oscars.
By Roger Salvans
Two mules and a woman
the fun of this westernwith an air of comedy and aroma of ‘spaghetti’, is to see an Eastwood, who loses his alpha male status, in the skin of a hardened gunslinger at the mercy of a nun whom he saves from some bandits. Unusual western, with a woman, magnificent Shirley McLaine, as a motor of action. ‘The queen of Africa in the West’ described the actor.
By John Pando
in the line of fire
Eastwood combing gray hair and loser mode, taciturn and sharp, has its appeal. But when he gets his act together to face an enemy with the thousand faces of the evil John Malkovich, we like him even more. Classic adrenaline thriller from the 80s and early 90s that can be enjoyed in one breath thanks, also, to the music of Ennio Morricone and the presence of Rene Russo in the role of a policewoman who ends up stealing our hero’s heart.
By Laura Parraga
The bridges of Madison
Clint Eastwood (Robert) drenched in the rain pleading with his eyes to meryl streep (Francesca) getting out of the truck to start a life together far from the monotonous Iowa is one of those scenes that nail you to the seat and make your eyes water. This is one of the movies that will make you cry if you need to for a reason. Who would have thought that the king of spaghetti westerns and action movies would replace the revolver with a Nikon F and get excited. A ‘drama’ about missed opportunities that we never get tired of seeing. Even if Meryl doesn’t open the door…
By Ana Santos
on the tightrope
Goodbye vigilantes and super cops. Goodbye, Harry Callahan. Goodbye to the male. Gone are the elemental Eastwood characters. Not directed but produced by him (through his Malpaso company, like the stream that crosses his property in California’s Carmel), in this ambiguous and gloomy film (in which he performs a nude scene in the dark and shares a bar with a man in a gay bar) shows a protagonist aware of his masculine aggressiveness. Divorced cop with two daughters (one of them Alison Eastwood, in the first job with his father), fond of sex with submissives, he follows the footsteps of a murderer. It will not be among the best thrillers in the history of cinema, but it is more than remarkable.
By Paula Ponga
The iron sergeant
The story is not at all original. What makes it special is the energy of the first two-thirds of its footage and its characters (plus a Eastwood who reads Cosmopolitan to connect with her feminine side highlights a hilarious Mario Van Peebles), not to mention its vocabulary not suitable for children (also great that dubbing that highlights the most flowery of Castilian). One of the best war movies in the history of cinema? Maybe not, but it is one of the most memorable of the actor and director.
By Anthony Rodriguez
Great Turin
walt kowalski he is a grumpy old man angry at the world, a veteran of the Korean War and a treasurer of the most reprehensible platitudes of the American dream. In this urban western, Clint hates, belittles and insults everyone, and especially the Asians who have ‘invaded’ his neighborhood, those he calls spring rolls. Why such a despicable being, then, moves us so much? Probably because this great reserve, director and protagonist in Gran Torino (name of the ’72 Ford he loves above all things), discovers himself against his will and restores our faith in justice with an epic and unexpected outcome. . A wonderful film that shows that low budget can reach the soul.
By Sonia Guijarro
million dollar Baby
Sometimes the best way to hit is to back up. This is just one of the lines from the superb script signed by Paul Haggis. The filmmaker uses boxing as an excuse to tell the most powerful story of love, overcoming and loyalty in his filmography, with the permission of ‘The Bridges of Madison County’. Immense (and Oscar-winning) the talent of Hillary Swank and Eastwood himself to convey a tenderness that reaches the viewer directly like a right hand. One of the best movies about boxing and one of those dramas that reach the soul (to destroy it, of course).
By John Sylvester
escape from alcatraz
Alcatraz was the prison where the inmates who bothered in other prisons ended up. No one could escape from The Rock, at least not until Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers put their years as expert escapists to the test. Seventeen years after his escape, and without reliable evidence to demonstrate the suffocation that the official version assures, the only thing that was clear is that Don Siegel was the right man to tell that story and Clint Eastwood the perfect embodiment of the brilliant and calm antihero. Cold, cunning and with a kind background created for the occasion, the actor forces the viewer to empathize with his longing for freedom from the very moment he sets foot on the island. An update of the fugues of Bresson, Becker, Sturges and Schaffner that became the new fundamental reference of the prison genre.
By Ricardo Rosado
the pale rider
For many it is an unmissable title in Eastwood’s filmography. For others it is one more that there is no reason to remember. The truth is that it is difficult to understand ‘Unforgiven’ without going through ‘The Pale Rider’. the scent of western classic floods a story that inevitably reminds of ‘Deep Roots’ (George Stevens, 1953), and in which director Eastwood uses the valuable lessons learned from Leone and Siegel to create a character straddling the two poles (the sensitive guy and the tough guy) of his filmography. Clint Eastwood is ‘The Preacher’, but also an expert gunslinger, he is the peace that precedes war. A redeemed man who, as in ‘Unforgiven’, will have to delve into his dark past again, this time to do justice. Something like the luminous reverse of Robert Mitchum’s Harry Powell in ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (Charles Laughton1955).
By Rafael S. Casademont
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
