A new film last year, resources quietly appeared in The country.
It is not surprising at first glance, it is a story about the DEA drug agents on the US-Mexico border vs. Mexican drug lords, and similar themes have been eaten up by the "Drug Lords" series Ma Gan.
However, this time, the story focuses on a man who was betrayed by his family, running for money to transport drugs for the drug cartel, and this man is 90 years old and was a world war veteran.
▲ Story prototype Leo Sharp
Suddenly I sniffed a little bit of legend, and looking at the director/lead actor of this film, I could no longer calm down.
Also an 89-year-old stubborn old man, he is the famous Clint Eastwood.
Uncle Dongmu (the literal translation of Eastwood, the affectionate name of domestic film fans), produced two films a year, and shortly after the release of "15:17, Departure to Paris", he immediately threw himself into the shooting of the new film "Mule".
This time, he also energetically self-directed and self-acted, printing his own avatar on the movie poster instead of the obituary (but shut up), and the last time he directed and starred in the movie was exactly ten years ago, 2008's "Classic Car".
Classic Cars, 2008
Although the new film "Mule" has many elements that we are familiar with. But in essence, the film is still full of Eastwood.
Its prototype, Leo Sharp, was a World War II veteran and an extremely famous gardener.
In 2011, at the age of 90, he was arrested while transporting $3 million worth of drugs through Michigan in a broken truck, making him the world's oldest mule.
▲ The original text of the New York Times
▲ Dongmu is not only similar in age, but also quite similar in temperament
The old man who has nothing, the classic car, the dangerous drug trafficking career, the World War II veteran...
With so many elements gathered together, it is almost conceivable that Mr. Toki slapped his thigh when he saw the news and was overjoyed.
This stubborn old man who has been shooting cowboys all his life has once again found his favorite kind of story on the road of 90 years old life.
Earl Stone, a veteran and gardener, loves to plant flowers and grass on weekdays, harvest medals everywhere, meet male gags, meet ladies and women, in short, men and women eat a beautiful old man.
The only problem was that he always chose to be on the move and rarely spent time with his family. Even on the day of her daughter's marriage, she still attended the flower show outside.
Later, his flower garden was about to be mortgaged out due to poor management, and his family had already turned him away.
In order to make money to save the flower garden, and to spend money to please his granddaughter, Earl started the first transportation in a daze.
Later, in order to renovate the club for retired soldiers, or repair the skating rink, Earl's drug road never stopped.
The Hong Kong translation of the film is "Poison Walker", one is to pay tribute to the old master's "Dart Series" (Hong Kong translation of "Lone Ranger Series"), and the second is a "hero" character to fulfill the role's sense of border justice that is both good and evil.
Speaking of movies, Earl's mule career seems to be smooth, and he himself has fallen deeper and deeper into it.
For him, the mule is just a job of making money, and the old man of the last century has practiced the American creed of "serious work" to the end and become the star of the mule class who can be entrusted with heavy responsibilities.
And his ex-wife's serious illness once again pushed him to the crossroads of choice.
The story is actually very simple, like most of the films made by Uncle Toki, without much narrative work, and even more rough than his previous works.
Rumor has it that Toki hired Nick Schenck, a screenwriter who had worked with him on "Classic Cars," and it took him only a few months to complete the script together.
▲ Lectured Michael Pena on set, and Pena played the legendary Agent Chico in Narco: Mexico
This can also be seen in the finished film, such as the unintended death of the drug lord Raton, such as the slight weakness in the second half of the film, which is somewhat regrettable: this could have become a greater movie.
However, all the flaws were nothing in the face of Uncle Dongmu's skills that had already entered the realm.
The biggest impression of the whole movie is - stable!
Whether it is to be an actor, Dongmu's acting skills, or As a director, Toki's steady and skillful directing will give people a feeling of being able to do it all in one go.
After all, this is an old ghost who has been playing on the Hollywood set for nearly seventy years.
What's more, the movie "Mule" is simply a portrayal of his own life.
The film just opens with a highlight moment that belongs to Earl Stone. He strolled into the fair, greeted by friends, colleagues and customers, and became a bean-loving superstar in the gardener world.
Outside of the story, the real-life Clint Eastwood is also a monster-like presence in his own industry.
Uncle Higashiki became an actor in the 1950s, first tossing and turning between actor training classes and bad B-grade sets, and after spending five years in a dragon set career, he made a nickname with a cowboy TV series.
Leather Whip, 1959
So far, he is still just a small star with a slightly improved career. But after that, it was his encounter with Leone in 1966.
▲ Seljo Leone and Eastwood
Uncle Toki himself recalls that he suddenly received a phone call one day, and an Italian director who did not speak English wanted him to go to Europe to make a Western.
He himself felt that this was very unreliable, but it was this unreliability that deeply attracted him.
Later, he went to Italy.
Later, he endured the harsh conditions of having to take turns with other actors to use a bed, and extremely low salary to finish the film.
Later, the world's Western cowboys all had a unified template: tall and thin, cold eyes, and taciturn.
Red Dead Redemption, 1964
By the '70s, Toki was tired of the directors who kept shouting to him to start over.
▲ His various tough guy images
He simply set up a studio of his own and became a director. His directing style is notoriously fast, with his actors on the set without rehearsals, often passing at once.
Higashiki was also tired of his fame, and was always forced by the producers to play a big hero, and his first self-directed film, "The Mist Chasing the Soul", was a suspense film.
▲ "The Mist Chases the Soul", 1971
In one of them, he played a scumbag who cheated and killed people - in short, it completely subverted all the screen roles he had played before.
Although he himself claims not to be a cowboy, "he just plays a cowboy when needed".
But in any case, Toki's self-contained and unique personality is really like the western loner in the streets of the noonday town, although tens of millions of people are looking forward to it.
Others think that the era of macaroni Westerns has passed, and Toki made a "Unforgivable" and won four Oscars in his backhand.
Others felt that romance should last forever, and he used "The Dream of the Covered Bridge" to perform a short and hazy romance with Meryl Streep.
Others think that the protagonist in a sports movie must win the ultimate boss battle, but he loves the heartbreaking script of "Million Dollar Baby", and even tells the studio boss that it is a great love story.
Others are attacking the Iraq war from all angles, and he has made a "American Sniper", a hardcore war story in which the ranch boys transform into sheepdogs to defend the sheep in their hometown...
It is this kind of decisiveness (referred to as stubbornness) that does not blindly follow the mainstream, so that Uncle Toki can insist on filming for decades in the fiercely competitive film industry, producing two films a year for 8 times and producing more than 30 works, but rarely missing out, playing extremely stable.
For prolific directors, this super control over the level of production is simply jaw-dropping.
It's no wonder that under his name, there is a long list of honors: 40 Oscar nominations, 13 little golden people, 32 Golden Globe nominations, 8 Golden Globe trophies, and countless other authoritative awards...
As he walked onto the red carpet of the awards ceremony, I believe that his pace must be as calm as the old man in the film.
As the plot of The Mule progresses, so does the overlap between Earl Stone and Eastwood himself.
Twice teasing the lace-edge motorcycle gang, changing the tires of black people on the side of the road and shouting to their faces, eating sandwiches with Mexican drug dealers...
The old man played all over the most acute and sensitive issues in the United States, such as homosexuality and racial issues.
In real life, Dongmu's political views are also maverick and conservative. In today's noisy Hollywood, which is collectively turning left, it is bold.
As a living fossil of Hollywood history, Uncle Toki has witnessed the progress of the industry, but he is deeply disgusted by the growing political correctness.
He felt that it was so childish that a bunch of people were cursing each other for racial discrimination, and the whole country seemed to be back in kindergarten.
To this end, he also made a special film "Success in People", which tells the story of South African rugby players and Mandela working together to repair social rifts.
▲ "Success in Man", 2009
So when he took the opportunity to play a grandfather who was out of the times, he took the opportunity to tease the juniors in the work.
Quite a bit of "the following remarks are played by Toki, who is responsible for Toki, and has nothing to do with Toki himself", take a closer look...
▲ You're welcome, ladies...
But don't think of him as the kind of old red neck that's old and stubborn.
Also in Mule, Eastwood arranges a meaningful scene:
When a DEA agent stopped an innocent Mexican-American driver on the highway, the driver panicked in the face of the muzzle of law enforcement officers, exclaiming that being stopped by the police was the most dangerous moment of his life.
This is both a cryptic criticism of the excessive brutality of the U.S. police and a deep reflection on racial issues.
Perhaps Earl was able to drive poison on the road generously not only because of how clever his strain was, but also because of the inexplicable relationship with his skin color.
When Earl said the N-Word to the black man on the screen, the black couple corrected him with a "Excuse me" expression on their faces, and Earl immediately smiled and changed his mouth.
This section is a bit similar to the protagonist in "Classic Car", with the same unconscious racial discrimination, but after being pointed out, it is also willing to correct prejudice.
This is also Eastwood's true political attitude:
Not just simply pressing left and right to take sides, but not to put hats on dissidents and insult each other, but to always stand on the side of what they think is right, and have the courage to correct their wrong views.
There is also Earl's distrust of mobile phones and modern technology, his love of jazz and country music, his love of talking and laughing with drug dealers and killers when transporting drugs, and he can find prototypes in Uncle Dongmu.
So when the story advances to Earl's debt and guilt to his family, the old man's regret that he does not know whether it is true or not is particularly moving.
▲ This may also be the reason why he rushed to shoot "Mule"
Eastwood has been in the film industry for almost a lifetime, devoting himself to film work, doing the work in front of and behind the scenes such as directors, actors, music, and producers in the crew.
But the women and children of the Eastwood family did not share much of the attention from their husbands and fathers.
Throughout his life, Eastwood was married only twice, but had countless lovers.
▲ Newspapers criticize his emotional life
There are about a dozen biographers who can confirm his name.
Decades of history have left him with eight children, but only three were born to his wife.
Therefore, the film shows earl despite his ninety-year-old age, still wandering the flowers and spending the spring supper with young women.
It is not so much that the straight male cancer director is adding benefits to himself, but rather that it is a self-deprecating remark when Uncle Dongmu, who has been scummy for a lifetime, is old.
He was also not a good father.
As shown in the film, Eastwood, who runs all year round, is always absent from important moments in the lives of his children.
He even inadvertently let his youngest daughter, Francesca, get burned by flames at her home in California.
Occasionally with his children, Eastwood also exhibits an old-school paternalistic style from the last century, appearing rough and cold.
His illegitimate son, Scott Eastwood (who starred in Pacific Rim and Rage), accidentally left his sister at a party as a child and was beaten by his angry father by his neck against the wall.
▲Father and son
It is no wonder that the family members alienate this old man who does not care about his family.
When the years are getting older, this former prodigal son and workaholic has finally opened up.
"The Mule" isn't the first time Eastwood has expressed guilt for his family.
When filming "The Curve Problem" seven years ago, Toki and Amy Adams played a pair of father and daughter with a tense relationship, and slowly released their previous suspicions in the film.
▲ "The Curve Problem", 2012
Earlier, in order to shoot "Success in Man", Toki had met with South Africa's legendary former president, Mandela.
Later, when asked by reporters what he learned from Mandela, the old man unceremoniously complained that he had not learned anything. Because this political legend did not take into account the relationship with his family.
In "The Mule", Eastwood simply regards family as the core theme of the film, and the whole film seems to be an apologetic confession letter.
Earl's happiness and freedom at work is like Eastwood's role in explaining to his family why he can't go home.
In the second half, when Earl's ex-wife died of illness, Earl knew that he was at risk of being killed, or rushed back to his family, which is like Eastwood apologizing to his family off-screen through the work.
This implicit meaning reaches its peak when Earl and his eldest daughter stand in front of the flower bed and reconcile, because the eldest daughter Iris is played by no one else, but Alison Eastwood, Uncle Eastwood's biological daughter.
It is worth mentioning that the film's DRUG Enforcement Administration agent, a young version of "Earl" who also neglects his family for work, is played by Bradley Cooper, who has a close personal relationship with Eastwood and has worked with many times.
▲Have worked together on "American Sniper"
The two men sat down in the café, and the old man advised the young man to avoid his own mistakes and value his family.
Suddenly, it seems that it is really the old Hollywood predecessors who are teaching life experience to the offspring who have just been nominated for the Oscar.
He said that to the police, and to the drug dealers.
When people are old, there will always be some nagging.
Fortunately, on the other side of the camera, the veteran Earl confessed in court, regained his family, and ended his life as a good deal.
At this end of the camera, veteran filmmaker Eastwood brings his ex-wife and children together at the premiere of "The Mule", and they are happy.
Li Zongsheng sang in the song: "When the prayer ends" over the hill / Only to find no one waiting / Chattering / Time is not enough to mourn".
The old cowboy Clint was able to complete the most important confession in his life in the most comfortable way at the last moment of his life.
Regardless of whether "Mule" is the last work of this legendary filmmaker, he will not have any regrets.
Of course, I'll continue to look forward to seeing Clint Eastwood's name on the opening credits next time.
Because, filmmakers don't die, even if they can't shout "CUT" forever.
Author ✎ Barry Shhh
EditEd by ✎ Stirling is not thirsty
This article was first published in the Adventure Movie: Cinematik
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