White Hunter Black Heart

 

 

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I loved this movie. It is the ultimate exploration of what makes people such as Houston and Eastwood click. The writing is excellent and Clint's portrait of a bigger that life man obsessed with adventure is moving. I would recommend to anybody now discovering Eastwood's directorial genius. This is definitely one to revisit.

Clint Eatwoods in the 90's just got better and better as a director. This is wonderfull movie and I cant wait for it to be released on DVD

Clint Eastwood captures the machismo and bravado and the wit of John Huston perfectly and he gets some of the elegance and the grace which he also had in abundance and which made him one of the most interesting of characters. A more complex actor may have given a more layered performance but its pretty hard not to admire what he does with the role. Eastwood is also a legend but of a different type and from a different era and his own legend status may have interfered with the filmgoing publics ability to accept him in this role playing not himself(as we always assumed he was doing)but a different legend. I think it works very well though. You can tell Eastwood is examining his own mythic stature as he examines Hustons.
The last scene of the movie has Eastwood/Huston sitting in his directors chair ready to shoot the first scene of African Queen. The movie documents Hustons conflicting desires to be both a man who lives life fully and to be an artist. The two urges come into conflict when Huston must cater to the studio executives who want to control what he does. His endless battles with studio representatives is great comedy. He enlists the young screenwriter "Pete" as an ally, or attempts to. (Pete is the one who eventually writes the book this movie is based on.) Huston wants Pete to be as fearless as he is and Pete is taken in by the charm of the great director but not all the way in. Pete is his own man, and Huston encourages that but also comes up against it when they disagree. Sometimes Hustons willfullness is heroic as when he acts out of principle. In one of the best scenes of the movie a blonde socialite makes some antisemitic remarks unaware that Pete is Jewish. Huston defends his screenwriter and friend but not immediately, rather using all his charm and guile (which is dropped only at the last minute) he tells the blonde socialite a long story about another blonde socialite and there is no way for this antisemitic blonde socialite not to know just who the story is about... you will never forget the tell off after you have seen it. Other times however the willfullness just seems like simple childishness and irresponsibity and is at least one of the contributing factors in an accidental death. Eastwood/Huston gets beaten up pretty good in one scene(which proves just how far he'll go) and he wears the scars like badges through several scenes. You can't help like him and admire him for going through life in such cavalier fashion but you are also kind of sickened at times that he is so egocentric and callous towards others. So it is an unusual movie with a lead character that you both do and don't like. Its not what people expect from Eastwood. Its deeper, more complex. It is a thinking mans biography- adventure movie. Hustons African escapade begins as an outward journey to conquer and therby prove his greatness as a man by killing an elephant and ends with him coming to his senses... finally. Only by going too far far too many times does he realize how destructive his megolomania really was. Great character study, and great looking film. My favorite Eastwood movie.

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