Author, award-nominated documentary filmmaker, and distinguished film critic Richard Schickel utilizes his experience as a prolific cinematic historian and discriminating film doyen to examine the filmmaking journey of friend and venerated actor/director Clint Eastwood.
Schickel's latest film, The Eastwood Factor, is a vivid and intimate documentary that explores Eastwood's unique approach to filmmaking during his 35-year tenure at Warner Brothers studios. The Eastwood Factor is a fascinating story; a life told in retrospect. Along with commentary from friends and rare photos, Schickel and Eastwood revisit the sites significant to Eastwood, from his personal costume closet on the Warner Brothers lot to the set locations of some of his landmark movies. Eastwood reminisces about his characters, the movies, and his role, as both actor and director, in some of Hollywood's most celebrated and groundbreaking films.
There is one striking and particularly poignant moment as Eastwood talks about the movie Bird (1988), the life story of jazz musician (and Eastwood's personal musical hero) Charlie Parker, a movie which Schickel refers to as "a passion project." Eastwood ponders some elusive connection between Parker's brilliance, talent, insecurity, and eventual self-destruction, calling the loss of that talent a crime. Eastwood wonders aloud if perhaps this connection might be true of actors also — a message that resonates with the loss of so many young talents to addiction and overdose in Hollywood.
Eastwood shows his humorous side as well. In talking about his decision to rewrite Unforgiven (1992) he says, "I started writing, writing and fooling with things and changing things... and all the sudden I realized I was wrecking it. So I called him [David Peoples] back up and I said forget about that. I'm just gonna shoot it the way it is." It was a funny and endearing moment hearing this story from Clint Eastwood and showed a side of him I would not have expected — no ego; no macho preening. A simple admission that sometimes he screws things up, just like everyone else, except he admits to having a bad idea and hands over the reins rather than trying to keep control — a lesson in humility. And probably a large part of the Eastwood factor is his ability to let go of personal ego and let someone else have a shot.
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Article comments
1 - FCEtier
Fascinating article on a fascinating subject. Well done.
2 - A Geek Girl
Thanks FC! I did an interview with Schickel. Interesting. I'll have it up in a couple of days.