Book Review — Clint Eastwood: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work
Clint Eastwood: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work
By Ian Nathan
White Lion
176 pages
September 12, 2023
$36.00
Buy It
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Film writer Ian Nathan (who has also authored "unofficial" and
"unauthorized" books on the Coen Brothers and
Guillermo Del Toro)
returns with this handsome volume filled with glossy photos unpacking
the career of one of our greatest American directors. It divides Clint
Eastwood's career into sections, beginning with his early bit parts,
television roles, and in Sergio Leone's Western trilogy, which made him
a star. It explores his relationship with director Don Siegel, the
beginnings of his own directorial career, and the hard lessons he
learned on The Outlaw Josey Wales. Each of his milestones,
Unforgiven
and Million Dollar Baby, serve as dividers for the later chapters, as
well as a brief but useful aside on Eastwood's brief term as the Mayor
of Carmel. Nathan goes into depth on these significant movies, but I do
wish he could have spent more time on some of the filmmakers more
underrated and revealing works, specifically Breezy and
Hereafter. Best
of all, the book tries to make sense of Eastwood's prickly politics; he
emerges as someone who's human, but also legendary.
