Published by University of New Mexico Press
The indefatigable Clint Eastwood, the great old man of American film, is still controversial after all these years. Many of the critical essays in this collection focus on Eastwood’s 2014 American Sniper, a particularly controversial film and a devastating personal account of the horrors of war. Additional essays within the collection address his films that deserve more recognition than they have received to date.The chapters vary by topic and identify themes ranging from aging, race, and gender to uses of Western conventions and myth to the subtleties of quieter themes and stylistic choices in Eastwood’s body of cinematic work. As a collection, these essays show that none of these themes account for Eastwood’s entire vision, which is multifaceted and often contradictory, dramatizing complex issues in powerful, character-driven narratives.
Subjects: FilmCultural Studies
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction Matt Wanat and Leonard EngelChapter One. The Eiger Sanction: Midlife and Midcareer on Eastwood’s Vertical Frontier Mark MaynardChapter Two. Forced into Heroism: Clint Eastwood’s Reluctant Protagonists in The Eiger Sanction, The Gauntlet, and Firefox Edward LambertiChapter Three. Why Are We Stuck in Low-Earth Orbit?: Sexagenarian Space Cowboys and the Failing Body of Their American Dream W. D. PhillipsChapter Four. Empowering the Victim: Eastwood as a Director of Women Raymond FoeryChapter Five. Manufactured in America: Clint Eastwood, Chrysler’s Halftime in America, and the Republican National Convention Craig RinneChapter Six. The Real War That Got into the Movies: Eastwood and Spielberg in the Pacific John StreamasChapter Seven. Captain of My Soul: Inspiration in Eastwood’s Films John GourlieChapter Eight. Cultural Hero-Systems in Shane, Gran Torino, and American Sniper Glenda PritchettChapter Nine. “Life Takers and Heart Breakers”: Moral Injury in Clint Eastwood’s War Films Kathleen Brown and Brett WestbrookChapter Ten. Another Fistful: The American Sniper Franchise and Clint Eastwood’s Post-9/11 American War Film as Neo-Western David BuchananChapter Eleven. The Legend: Situating American Sniper in Clint Eastwood’s Canon Landon LutrickChapter Twelve. With Some Trepidation, I Suggested That We See American Sniper Together Dennis RothermelChapter Thirteen. Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper: A Note on the Art of Interpretation Leonard EngelChapter Fourteen. “The First Cut Is the Most Important Cut”: An Interview with Joel Cox Paul SeydorAfterword Drucilla CornellFilmographyList of ContributorsIndex
