A Brief Look At Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood Clint Eastwood is a world-renowned actor and director born on May 31, 1930, in San Francisco, California. His parents were Margaret Ruth and Clint Eastwood Sr. Margaret was a factory worker while Eastwood Sr. was a steelworker. While he did attend Las Angeles City College, he ended up dropping out to pursue a career in acting. Prior to attending Las Angeles City College he graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1948. In 1950, Eastwood got called into military service as a part of the Army Special Services based in Fort Ord in Monterey, California (A&E Television Networks 1, 2, 3). Eastwood began his career as an actor with his first works being Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula. It was not until his part
in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that he became an international phenomenon. Eastwood was so well received because he was able to incorporate tough-guy action with unique offbeat humor. In 1971 Eastwood directed his first film Play Misty for Me where he starred as the main character as well. Shortly after came Dirty Harry, also in 1971, where he reached official “superstar status,” with his role as the hard edge pretentious police officer. The Dirty Harry series actually spanned 5 films over the course of 17 years (A&E Television Networks 5). Among his many notable works, his top ten grossing films from lowest generated income to highest generated income are: Jersey Boys (2014) with $47 million, Absolute Power (1997) with $50 million, Sudden Impact (1983) with $67.6 million, The Bridges of Madison County (1995) at $71.5 million, Mystic River (2003) at $90.1 million, Space Cowboys (2000) at $90.4 million, Million Dollar Baby (2005) at $100.5 million, Unforgiven (1992) at $101.1 million, Gran Torino (2008) at $148.1 million, and at number one with a crushing $320.8 million as of 2/23/15 American Sniper (2014). In 1993 Eastwood won his first two Oscar awards of his career for Best Picture and Best Director with the film Unforgiven. Eastwood won another Oscar Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year with the film Million Dollar Baby in 2005. Eastwood’s most recent Oscar nomination was for Best Picture with the film American Sniper. Clint Eastwood as a director is notorious for reducing filming time and keeping the films under-budget.
This is avoided by his meticulous preparation and the actor’s preparation prior to filming because he prefers scenes to be completed on the first or second take. Eastwood says that “every picture takes on its own style,” so keeping with that tradition the director doesn’t use storyboards unless special effects are involved. He also has created a calm, safe environment where the actors feel comfortable expressing their feeling regarding the role and ideas as well as being open to collaborate. Eastwood’s distinctive mise-en-scene’s that generally consist of hand-held camerawork, tracking shots, aerial photography and low-camera placement when filming actors. He believes that the natural landscape within itself is an important player in the film as well as realistic lighting effects. The tonalities shift based off of the development of the narrative and characters. Eastwood characterizes his style as “a combination of pace and an eye for composition.” His themes generally focus on protagonists that have been affected by issues of gender, war, race, the consequences of materialism, internal conflict like good vs. evil, vengeance and redemption. The triumphant underdog succeeds against all odds. It has been said that his themes and style are quite similar to Hemingway’s. Eastwood’s directing style focuses on a strong mise-en-scene, strong lighting, natural landscapes and the
strong acting ability portrayed by the actors. Among Eastwood’s many famous works of film, Gran Torino is a rated R American drama film released on December 12, 2008.
The plot is described as the following, "Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) sets out to reform his neighbor, (Bee Vang) a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino." As well as being both directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, he also stars in the film. Other co-stars include Christopher Carley, Bee Vang and Ahney Her. Gran Torino was also Eastwood's first starring role since Million Dollar Baby (2004). Gran Torino was a commercial success, grossing approximately $270 million worldwide, which currently makes it Eastwood's second highest-grossing film. Gran Torino was distributed by Warner Bros. and has a running time of 116
minutes.
There was some negative reviews, such as some cultural inaccuracies, exaggerations and distortions. However, the film was overall well received, with an average of 7.1/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The critic’s consensus on Rotten Tomatoes states, "Though a minor entry in Eastwood's body of work, Gran Torino is nevertheless a humorous, touching, and intriguing old-school parable."
Gran Torino was nominated for 11 awards, including best original song, best foreign film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina, for the Saturn Award, Excellence in Production Design Award, the Critics’ Choice Award, the CFCA Award, and the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize for best foreign language film. Gran Torino won a total twenty-two awards, such as movie of the year, best actor (Eastwood), best screenplay, top box office film and eleven different foreign film of the year awards. In conclusion, Clint Eastwood has had a very successful career as a director and actor. At age 84 he is still releasing box office hits such as American Sniper and Jersey Boys. Currently he does not have anything in the works but with that kind of success it is only a matter of time before his next project.