Clint Eastwood Retrospective - February and March, 2007: Clint Out West From humble beginnings in Depression-era California, Eastwood became an iconic Hollywood superstar celebrated around the world. Through his intelligence, talent and tenacity he has managed to continually reinvent himself and surprise us. Eastwood’s impressive body of work as an actor, director, producer and musician in over four decades in motion pictures makes him a filmmaker and artist to reckon with and is the focus of this retrospective hosted by film archivist and historian Bruce Lawton.

Clint Eastwood Retrospective

Presented by film historian Bruce Lawton

Our retrospective (which will be peppered with illuminating documentaries and shorts) opens with the genre that started it all for Clint Eastwood: The Western. At a time when it was all but thought that "oaters" were played out in Hollywood, Eastwood single-handedly revived, as well as revised, the artform.

PART ONE: "The Arc of the Stranger"

Eastwood's breakout role in cinema was in a trilogy of vibrant landmark Italian Westerns - filmed in Spain by a then unknown director named Sergio Leone.

These films led to both men becoming household names - which Eastwood parlayed into a bright future back in Hollywood. These films introduced "The Man With No Name" - a sort of enigmatic avenging stranger. The first film in the trilogy along with Eastwood's own revisiting and reinterpretations of this basic character in the 1970s and 80s will be screened - providing another sort of trilogy.

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964 - 1 hour and 40 minutes - directed by Sergio Leone)

A lone, laconic stranger (with a seemingly pitch-black dry sense of humor) rides into a border town and encounters a deadly family feud between rival gangs and cleverly sets about profiting from the situation. Eastwood's underplaying, Leone's striking direction and picture composition as well a piquant music score by a then unknown Ennio Morricone combine to make this an enduring roughhewn classic.

Thursday, February 8, 7 pm

CLINT EASTWOOD: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2000 - 1 hour and 27 minutes - directed by Bruce Ricker)

This is a solid portrait and engaging overview of Eastwood's life and career - showcasing thoughtfully selected film sequences, insightful interviews (including a very at ease Eastwood) and masterful narration by Morgan Freeman.

Saturday, February 10, 2 pm

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973 - 1 hour and 47 minutes - directed by Clint Eastwood)

For his second outing as director (his first being PLAY MISTY FOR ME) Eastwood took a chancy, offbeat approach - shooting on location in the desert near an eerie lake, he brought back the Stranger from the Leone trilogy - but mystically reimagined to bring retribution to a town with a dark shameful secret.

Saturday, February 10, 4 pm

PALE RIDER (1985 - 1 hour and 56 minutes - directed by Clint Eastwood)

Eastwood's third outing as The Stranger continues the mystical bent of HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER - but with a decidedly different approach - as he is more a protector-avenger to a group of pioneering pan miners holding their own against ruthless terror tactics brought on by a land-grab scheme. Smartly, the film presents a nice contrast to the previous pictures with it's bleak wintery setting.

Monday, February 12, 7 pm

PART TWO: "Western Exquisite"

Becoming a success in hit Westerns and police thrillers gave Eastwood the courage and possibility to undertake more thoughtful and contemplative storytelling. Twice within the genre that brought Eastwood fame, he has managed to create two rather exceptional masterpieces. Both films are like beautifully composed tapestries that are somberly thought provoking. Issues of family and belonging as well as the effects of war and violence on the individual are dealt with great nuance - twice surprising those who would pigeonhole Eastwood as just another action star (and the later film bringing much-deserved Oscars). Each film will be accompanied with a documentary featurette, illuminating Eastwood's process of filmmaking.

HELL HATH NO FURY: THE MAKING OF THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1999 - 31 minutes)

This short provides a great look back as well as "behind-the-scenes" introduction to feature.

Thursday, March 1, 7 pm

THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976 - 136 minutes - directed by Clint Eastwood)

With this film, Eastwood broke from the mythic Stranger character and carefully set out to make a deeply faceted, more complex tale. Set during the American Civil War, farmer Josey Wales in the flash of an eye brutally loses his family to the fate of war. Turned bitter avenging outlaw, he begins to attract a ragtag group of outcasts that gradually become (much to his chagrin) his surrogate family.

Thursday, March 1, 7:30 pm

EASTWOOD & CO. : MAKING UNFORGIVEN (1992 - 24 minutes)

This short provides a compelling "fly-on-the-wall" look at the production of this celebrated Oscar-winning picture and provides an excellent introduction to what follows.

Saturday, March 3, 2 pm

UNFORGIVEN (1992 - 131 minutes - directed by Clint Eastwood)

Eastwood took great pains and care in the preparation of this film - the selection of story and script and casting the right actors (a masterful ensemble that includes Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris). In it he plays a family man long haunted and scarred by the exceedingly violent past of his youth which he has worked hard to put behind him. He is reluctantly called upon to draw on that painful past to avenge a brutal deed that will earn him and his old partner (Freeman) a bounty. However a didactic lawman (Hackman) will do everything in his power to keep them from doing so. With this film, Eastwood "summarizes everything I feel about the Western" and provides a thoughtful meditation on the terrible personal price of inflicting violence.

Saturday, March 3, 2:30 pm

All screenings are free, and will be in the 1st Floor Community Room of the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon St.

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