Few living Hollywood legends have achieved as much as Clint Eastwood. He has starred in 72 films and series, directed 37 of them, won four Oscars and received countless other awards. His latest is the crime drama The Mule. His last or is there more in the pipeline? Gentlemen's Watch takes stock with the 88-year-old Eastwood.
For most of us, Clint Eastwood has always been there. He has delivered a few masterpieces, still makes the biggest monster of a film watchable and in all these decades he has never sold his soul or become a joke like many others of his generation.
The world first looked up when he played Rowdy Yates in the TV series Rawhide, but his star status was confirmed as gunslinger with the spaghetti western A Fistful of Dollars. The world was sold and his pinched eyes became legendary. Since then, Eastwood has starred in or directed a film just about every year.
Some were masterpieces - Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, Gran Torino - others were just 'good' - A Perfect World, Escape from Alcatraz, Letters from Iwo Jima - but whether it is Million Dollar Baby is whether the recent (failed) musical Jersey Boys, audiences continue to have a soft spot for the gruff Eastwood.
And that's even though he is an outspoken Republican in Hollywood. Just speaking out these days is enough to get you banned from film town, but Eastwood has a status apart it seems. His films also generally bring in money, he works fast, is not too expensive and he manages to gather an impressive cast around him. Say Woody Allen, but without the problematic affairs.
The Mule
Eastwood's latest is The Mule. The story of 90-year-old Earl Stone who inadvertently ends up in a drug smuggling operation from the American Southwest to Chicago. He is paid well, but he does not know what he is transporting. Once he finds out, it is too late. He makes too much money in the meantime.
"Somewhere he wants to quit," Eastwood tells us. "But the lots of money allows him to act like a kind of Robin Hood and give money to people who need it. I thought it was an interesting character study about a man who doubts what the right thing to do is, who at the same time is trying to come to terms with his family again."
A story about regret and remorse according to the actor/director. "There is a clear crime and thriller element in the film, but also loose vignettes featuring the people he encounters during his smuggling activities. He learns something from everyone, something I always like to see. You already know that from Gran Torino, that you are never too old to learn. Of the things that are good about today, but also the bad things."
10 Films in 10 Years
Despite his age, Eastwood is still one of the most hard-working, versatile and respected directors working in Hollywood today. Over the past decade, Eastwood has made 10 films as a director that could not be further apart in terms of theme and style.
Of a life about death and the afterlife (Hereafter), a musical about the 60s group The Four Seasons (Jersey Boys) and a drama about Mandela and Apartheid (Invictus) to a powerful Iraq drama (American Sniper) and a crime drama about a tormented elderly drug smuggler (The Mule).
Very early in his career, Eastwood decided not to depend solely on others and started directing films himself. Play Misty for Me was the first and set the tone for later. Men are often somewhat shallow, cops and the government are a bunch of idiots, so it's better to take matters into your own hands and kill the bad guys. Special when you know he hates violence - "but it's necessary to tell modern stories". BUT, everything always happened at Eastwood's own relaxed pace. That was the typical Eastwood action film and there you can see the influence of one of his teachers: Sergio Leone, who also always took his time to tell his story.
Not that Eastwood didn't keep up with the times. Even Dirty Harry had to deal with feminism and minorities. Somewhere you can Gran Torino - perhaps Eastwood's biggest success of the last decade - see it as an unofficial Dirty Harry. The hero, the gun-toting xenophobe Walt Kowalski, eventually does get close to his immigrant neighbours.
Part of Eastwood's secret is to never stop working. Always moving on to the next project. Be it as an actor or director. Eastwood: "When I started directing, I was lucky enough to be able to make films on all kinds of completely different subjects. I've been doing it since 1970 and it's like second nature. And if it's a role that suits me, I'll do it, but I'm not too proud to give the role to someone better."
In the 88-year-old Californian's world, it's simple: sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't. One thing does bother him, between the lines. The chronic lack of good roles for older actors.
"You know, in the old days, even in the old days of Hollywood, they did write roles for older actors like Walter Huston. Back then, they did that quite often and with a lot of variety. And admittedly, I'm not interested in doing fantasy or those kinds of franchises either. That falls off and is not for me at all. As an actor, you rely on the kind of roles that suit you. And nowadays, not many good roles write for older actors, so then you have to choose. I don't do things just for the sake of it. If I make something, it has to be something new or look at a familiar subject from a different angle. You can't force that."
Old 'Zeur'
So then it's waiting for him for films like Gran Torino or The Mule. Or American Sniper, but as a director. "That just had a subject and an approach that suited me. Tricky projects to find, though I still manage. (laughs) Now I seem like an old nag, but directing is at least as much fun as acting. Maybe I like it even more because you don't have to look at your own face all the time. You can completely focus on the characters and guide them through the story."
The joy of directing, according to Eastwood, is in watching. Watching how other people approach something that 'you have in your head'. "Sometimes I get surprised with a good suggestion and sometimes I subtly guide someone towards what I want and not what they have in their head, haha. Anyway, I find it fascinating to work with actors, especially the younger ones, and to understand exactly how they feel. Because I too once stood in that position, a very long time ago. It's very funny to see this again on a set."
His protégé of late is Bradley Cooper, who late last year made the masterful A Star is Born delivered as an actor, director, writer, singer and producer. A film that for a time, by the way, belonged to Eastwood, which he would make with Beyoncé. Cooper and Eastwood worked together in American Sniper and in The Mule, Where Cooper has a supporting role.
"I admire Bradley's talent and we enjoyed working together at American Sniper. Bradley has good instincts, he understands something immediately and knows what is good for him. He has a natural sense of drama. He may have sometimes asked a bit about directing, but I believe he had a good idea of what he wanted to do and how. For instance, his idea to cast Lady Gaga was a masterstroke. She did a great job in that film."
National Treasure
Granted, there are bigger directors AND there are bigger actors, but as a double threat, no one comes close. Eastwood has outlasted most of his contemporaries and is still coming along. It must be because Eastwood is a child of the Depression. A time when it was unforgivable if you didn't work.
And the man is not afraid to fail or hear what critics think of his films. That sobriety is probably because he was still building swimming pools and was a lifeguard at 29ste. Success came later.
Then again, it is extraordinary that Eastwood is still the drive has to direct as well as act. At 88. Just because of the physically demanding work. Clint Eastwood is, as the Americans say, a national treasure.
He made his debut in 1955 in ignorable Revenge of the Creature. That same year saw the release of James Dean's last film Rebel without a Cause out and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. Many directors and stars have come and gone since these benchmarks in time, but Eastwood is still of a steady and relevant value.
Eternal sobriety
Yet he himself -and this must be his eternal sobriety- never thinks about a legacy. (laughs) "Oh, I have no idea. What do you mean? I don't think it's up to me to judge my legacy as a filmmaker. I don't think about it that much either. For me, it's all about what I'm doing now and how I can bring something new. It's already so difficult to find good projects, let alone having the luxury of waiting because it wouldn't fit perfectly into my body of work."
A body of work in which the films differ, but the themes remain the same. Good conquers evil, power corrupts, people with power are idiots and being old does not immediately mean being written off.
Stories that are irresistible to Americans and much of the rest of the world. And that being a Republican in predominantly left-wing Hollywood? Eastwood may lean towards the Republicans, but then it is always Mitt Romney he supported rather than Donald Trump, and his films are generally surprisingly nuanced.
At American Sniper it is clear that the Iraq invasion may not have been such a great idea, Million Dollar Baby treated euthanasia and Gran Torino is the textbook example that locking yourself in your own bubble, is not the solution.
With The Mule Eastwood delivers his 37th films as a director. So that shelf life is all right, and if we are to believe him, it won't be his last. (grins) "Already 37 films? Really? I've been hanging around the film world for a long time, but that's a lot indeed. Ah well, you never know what gives you shelf life in this industry. Then when you finally have a bit of certainty that you have a long life in this crazy film world, you have to decide again how long you want to stay in it. That's pure emotion. I'm sure I'll get fed up with this work at some point. But I haven't encountered that day yet, nor have I ever felt the urge to say goodbye to Hollywood. If I ever get that feeling, I hope I recognise it soon. Nothing worse than someone who lingers too long at a party." - Text: Jorrit Niels
The Mule is now running in cinemas
Eastwood's Best
Rawhide ('59-'65)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Dirty Harry (1971)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Pale Rider (1985)
Unforgiven (1992)
In the Line of Fire (1993)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Space Cowboys (2000)
Mystic River (2003)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Gran Torino (2008)
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