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Moving Image Source's Matt Zoller Seitz has delivered Part 2 of his Clint Eastwood study, called "Kingdom of the Blind, Part 2." Narrated this time as well as subtitled.
"Eastwood's wisecracking angel of death persona is so familiar -- and so beloved by audiences -- that when he seriously critiques it, as he did in Unforgiven, it doesn't always register," says Seitz. "People see Eastwood in a cowboy hat and think 'entertainment.' This writer saw the film three times in theaters. Two of those times the audience cheered Munny's vengeance -- the most horrific rampage in a studio movie since Taxi Driver -- as if it were Terminator 2.
"Is Eastwood an exploitation filmmaker with aspirations to importance, or an artist who uses violent action to entice viewers into experiencing his films' more complex aspects? Is he making art, or just entertainment with personality?
"Such distinctions may be a dead end; Eastwood would surely never draw them. And in any event, the actor-director isn't just aware of his inconsistencies and mysteries, he foregrounds them in his films. The most intriguing aspect of Eastwood's career is Eastwood himself."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 3, 2009 at 9:56 PM
Essentials
comment #1
Jonathan Spuij
says ...
Thanks. I loved the first one. Especially the reverse psychology of Sudden Impact.
Posted by Jonathan Spuij
at December 3, 2009 11:45 PM
comment #2
BurmaShave
says ...
Editing in the sound effects of clapping and laughter was so bad I had to stop watching. Truly awkward.
Posted by BurmaShave
at December 4, 2009 1:17 AM
comment #3
Rich S.
says ...
I understand Seitz's point, but I think he goes too far out of his way to argue against Eastwood's iconography. Seitz doesn't seem to understand that the movies are all about iconography.
I agree with both Stephen King and Roger Ebert's argument that the movies are somewhat limited in their ability to convey complex, nuanced themes, which are better suited to the written word. Stephen King, in fact, has even applied this argument to Dirty Harry. Seitz seems to argue that Eastwood should abandon iconography in favor of nuance. If he did, he wouldn't be Eastwood, and, concurrently, no one would watch the movie.
I do agree in one important respect, though, and that's in the studio using the "snappy comebacks" out of context to market films that do have more ambiguous themes. Gran Torino is exhibit A in this regard.
I also clearly remember the trailers for Unforgiven, which were guilty of the same thing. The trailer used the exchange, "you just shot an unarmed man; well then he should have armed himself" to suggest another Dirty Harry-esque "romp."
The line the trailer omitted - "if he was going to decorate his saloon with my friend" - put the whole exchange, and indeed, the whole finale, in context. When I first saw the trailer, I thought the line was extremely weak. When I finally saw the whole exchange, I thought it was one of the best in the movie.
Posted by Rich S.
at December 4, 2009 5:17 AM
comment #4
Jack South P.I.
says ...
These are really well done. (And I much prefer this one with VO rather than title cards. Hard to read and listen to dialogue at the same time.)
I had a similar reaction to Unforgiven as Seitz did. It was only watching it on Laserdisc at home (sans Eloi) that I realized how grim and powerful the movie really was. What I originally thought was a weak Best Picture-winner transformed into one of the great westerns of all time and a brilliant movie in its own right.
Posted by Jack South P.I.
at December 4, 2009 8:22 AM
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