El 24 de octubre se estrenó el documental “Clint Eastwood: Hollywood Outlaw” en REELZ, un canal digital estadounidense dedicado a programación de la industria de entretenimiento. Entre los expertos que hablan sobre este cineasta en el documental, se encuentran Kevin Bacon, Ryan Philippe y Marc Eliot, profesor visitante de la Escuela de Cine y Artes Visuales UFM.

“Clint Eastwood: Hollywood Outlaw”cuenta la historia de Clint Eastwood resaltando su trayectoria de más de 6 décadas como actor, productor, director y compositor. El documental es producido por AMS Pictures, una compañía productora de más de 40 años en la industria con obras que han aparecido en canales como History Channel, Lifetime y Food Network.

Además de ser una ventana a la vida profesional y personal de Eastwood, el documental destaca las características particulares que lo han diferenciado dentro la industria de Hollywood, hablando tanto de su pasión por la dirección cinematográfica como de su inconformidad con el sistema de Hollywood, que lo llevó a fundar su propia compañía productora Malpaso Productions para hacer películas a su manera.

Su transición de actor a cineasta lo convirtió en uno de los directores más prolíficos e icónicos de la historia, reconocido por su trabajo en más de 40 producciones de cine y televisión.

“(Clint Eastwood’s films) are kind of existential journeys that go from story to story, film to film, decade to decade, and I think that’s rooted from the kind of childhood he had where there was no stable sense of permanence.”- Marc Eliot

Marc Eliot, autor best seller del New York Times con más de 12 libros sobre cultura popular y aclamadas biografías de iconos de Hollywood, escribió  American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood (2009) y formó parte del grupo de actores, cineastas y biógrafos entrevistados para este documental.

En entrevista, Marc comenta de su participación en esta producción y su acercamiento a la vida y trabajo de Clint Eastwood. 

1. What was your experience participating in this documentary?

Marc Eliot:  I’ve been fortunate that over the many years of being a professional writer, the media has always been kind to me, and my ability, such as it is, to speak in front of a camera has done me well.  The producer was extremely open to my ideas, and let me go during the taping without a lot of interruptions.  I think it was successful, in that sense.

2. What compelled you to write the biography “American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood”?

Marc Eliot: I consider Clint Eastwood an authentic American auteur, and felt that because so much of his film work was in genres – westerns and crime – he was overlooked both as an actor and, more importantly, as a director.  I always look for subjects who do not easily fit into categories.

3. Why is it important for filmmakers and aspiring artists to learn from Clint Eastwood’s life and career? 

Marc Eliot: As an auteurist, the belief is that it is necessary to see as many films as possible, in all genres, by all directors, so as to be able to make better judgments as to what is good and what isn’t.  If you only saw one movie in your life, then that would be, by definition, the best film you ever saw. If you saw two films, one would be best, one would be second-best.  Multiply that through the thousands of films you see in your lifetime, and you can begin to understand the value of comparative thinking.

 The best films are usually made by the best filmmakers, one of the tenets of auteurism.

4. Which of Eastwood’s films do you recommend for film students to dive into? 

Marc Eliot: I’d certainly recommend the new British release of “Play Misty for Me.” It was the first film he directed, and on the DVD there is a lengthy interview with Yours Truly.

Also, “Unforgiven” is an acknowledged classic, worthy of all the praise it has received.

To see where Clint got so much of his directorial style, I’d recommend “A Fistful of Dollars” (Sergio Leone) and “Dirty Harry,”(Don Siegel).  Clint borrowed heavily from both formulating his directorial style.

Marc Eliot visitó la Escuela de Cine y Artes Visuales UFM para impartir el curso World of Cinema: A Hollywood Story en febrero del 2020.  Durante su visita, participó en el evento de Artista Emprendedor: The Business of Hollywood en el que habla a más detalle de su experiencia como biógrafo y del rol de negocio dentro de la industria del cine y Hollywood.