The journalist of the English newspaper The Guardian, Emma Brooks, conducted an interview with the great American director, Clint Eastwood, which here reproduces Clarín, In the translation by Elisa Carnelli.
With his eternal imprint of a typical American hero, Eastwood He was encouraged in the latter part of his extensive career to be behind the scenes and direct his own films. With the suffocating drama Mystical river, Eastwood he achieved immediate recognition and much of the public and critics discovered him as a filmmaker.
Very close to turning 80, the actor and director met with Gran Torino, which marks his farewell as an actor. and in which he plays a hostile, widowed and very unsociable old man, who carries several of the racist prejudices that exist within American society.
Throughout the note, Eastwood and the journalist review the meaning of making a film like Gran Torino, of his character, of his next work, The Human Factor (a biopic about Nelson Mandela, starring Morgan Freeman),
The note, below:
Did you want to play Walt from the beginning?
Yes, I liked the dilemmas I had to solve. I liked the message from the old United States, which may be outdated. Walt may be obsolete. ”He laughs softly. But learn new things. And that's what makes the movie interesting. You take a guy who is very opinionated, who insults equality of opportunity, and you put him next to people he is terribly hostile to. And suddenly he looks in the mirror and says, 'I have more in common with these people than with my spoiled, unpleasant family.' He realizes that these people like to be with him, even if he is not a particularly nice person.
Were you worried about finding the right tone?
He was not worried about anything. When you get to my age, what can they do to you? I had three nominated films out of the last five that I did. I just make the movie the best I can. The rest is politics and strutting. I'm not good at that. I think our message was as good as any other this year. So are the things.
Doesn't your vanity suffer when seen on screen?
It is too late for vanity. Eighty is just a number. Many are old in their 40s. If I was 30, I'd say, 'Hey, that's not a good angle.' But now there are no good angles. So you accept it and move on.
I wonder if Morgan she sees him as a canchero dad or as a father who embarrasses her. Eastwood seems surprised at this point. «I think he considers me a cool father. We get along really good. I also have a teenage daughter. I think they think I'm a good father. I am not totally objective. I don't think they see me as a guy who should be their grandfather. I used to make jokes about it: I said that my children didn't give me grandchildren and then I had to have my own grandchildren.
It is to imagine that being a male child of Clint Eastwood D.She must create certain problems, just as being the daughter of some icon of femininity could create them for a daughter. I ask him if his relationship with him cost more than his daughters. «Maybe Maybe not. I don't think they necessarily have to end up in conflict. Parents must instill in them the logic of life. Not everyone becomes a familiar figure. That has advantages and disadvantages. Do not give it more importance than it has. You are never in full control. But he has to aspire to set the agenda, and fate will do the rest.
To read the full interview, click here.
Source: Clarín