Film

Clint Eastwood may be older than dirt but the veteran director keeps on churning out great movies. To celebrate his new film, J. Edgar, JOE looks back at his best work behind the camera.

By Dermot Keys

1. Unforgiven

Clint plays William Munny, a retired gunfighter and "killer of women and children", who reluctantly accepts one last job. Munny could be an older incarnation of any one of Clint’s early characters and it’s hard not to see parallels with a haggard-looking Clint climbing back into the saddle.

This classic doesn’t disappoint and Unforgiven is a fitting bookend for Eastwood’s career in Westerns. It boasts a star-studded cast and the action builds towards an electrifying climax which leaves you in no doubt that Clint will always be the man.

Quote: Any son of a bitch takes a shot at me, I’m not only gonna kill him, I’m gonna kill his wife, and all his friends, and burn his damn house down.”

2. The Outlaw Josey Wales

In his fifth film as a director, Clint stars as Josey Wales, a farmer who turns outlaw after his family are killed in a Civil War atrocity. This anti-war film features many recurring aspects of Eastwood’s work, from the morally-ambiguous hero to his tendency to defy the audience’s expectations.

The film also showcases Eastwood’s ability to balance action, melodrama and understated comedy. Some of the most memorable scenes are built around the banter between Wales, his Cherokee sidekick, and the band of stragglers he collects on the trail.

Quote: “Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?”

3. Million Dollar Baby

The director’s unlikely journey into the world of female boxing produced a poignant Oscar-winning film. In Eastwood’s hands, a film that could have been ‘Rocky with breasts’ becomes a powerful story of triumph and adversity.

The brilliant cast of Rocky with breasts Million Dollar Baby

Hilary Swank earns her Best Actress Oscar as the heroine of the piece while Clint squints his way through proceedings as her grizzled trainer. Morgan Freeman supports and unleashes the patented 'Morgan Freeman Voiceover' to great effect.

Quote: “She grew up knowing one thing - She was trash.”

4. Letters from Iwo Jima

Making a WWII film? How about filming it from the Japanese perspective with English subtitles? Eastwood ripped up the rulebook for war movies with this one as he set out to illustrate the essential humanity of soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

The black sands of Iwo Jima and the washed grey tones of the film provide an oppressive backdrop for the Japanese soldiers’ inner turmoil. Eastwood defies Hollywood conventions to produce one of the most interesting war films of recent years.

Quote: “Kashiwara died of honorable dysentery.”

5. Gran Torino

Eastwood’s last acting role sees him play a racist Korean War veteran who ends up mentoring a young Asian boy from next door. Clint obviously relished the role of the irreverent old crank who fires off racial insults at will but ultimately defends an immigrant community from street gangs.

Clint had started to resemble Skeletor’s cousin at this stage but the look suited the growling curmudgeon who becomes an unlikely champion. Gran Torino is at times sentimental, at times predictable, but the director’s deft touch and its wisecracking anti-hero make it an enjoyable romp.

Quote: “I'm no hero. I was just trying to get that babbling gook off my lawn.”