클린트 이스트우드 감독님의 <체인즐링> 칸 공식상영이 오늘이라 두근거리는 마음에 여기저기를 계속 기웃거리고 있었는데, 드디어 리뷰가 올라왔다. <버라이어티>의 Todd McCarthy의 것과 Emanuel Levy의 것인데, 역시나!!! 또, 해내셨다는!!!! 칸과 아카데미가 동시에 감독님을 경배하게 될런지도 모르겠다.

Todd McCarthy의 리뷰로 바로 가기

Todd McCarthy raves about Eastwood's new film, "Changeling":

A thematic companion piece to "Mystic River" but more complex and far-reaching, "Changeling" impressively continues Clint Eastwood's great run of ambitious late-career pictures. Emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed, this true story-inspired drama begins small with the disappearance of a young boy, only to gradually fan out to become a comprehensive critique of the entire power structure of Los Angeles, circa 1928. Graced by a top-notch performance from Angelina Jolie, the Universal release looks poised to do some serious business upon tentatively scheduled opening late in the year.(...)

(...) A dozen filmmakers could have taken a dozen different approaches to the same material -- sensationalistic, melodramatic, expose-minded, a kid's or killer's p.o.v., and so on. Perhaps the best way to describe Eastwood's approach is that he's extremely attentive -- to the central elements of the story, to be sure (with its echoes of "A Perfect World"), but also to the fluidity between the private and the public, the arbitrariness of life and death, the distinct ways different people view the same thing, the destructive behavior of some adults toward children and the quality of life in California around the time he was born.



Emanuel Levy의 리뷰로 바로 가기

Clint Eastwood had done it again. Dramatically and artistically, his new period thriller, "The Changeling," based on an actual case that helped bring down a corrupt police force and ushered a new era of greater legal equality, is right up there with his seminal, Oscar-winning features, "Mystic River" in 2003 and "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004.

Though a historical piece set in the particular socio-cultural context--Los Angeles in March 1928--"The Changeling" is a dramatically gripping, supremely acted, technically accomplished picture that bears relevant contemporary meanings due to its central set of significant issues that continues to resonate in our lives today: the definition and structure of family as a social institution, the ineffectiveness and corruption of our main guardian institution, the police force. Add to it a strong female protagonist (splendidly played by Angelina Jolie), who begins as a misfit and weakling only to find strong reserves within herself and become a genuine heroine, and you also have a film about the nascent feminist movements of the late 1920s, with insights about the position of women (and other minorities) in society back then, with strong implications for today. 
 
Clearly on a roll over the past decade, in which he has helmed "Mystic River," "Million Dollar Baby," and the back to back war films that are really companion pieces, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima," Eastwood is like a good old French wine, the more senior he gets in age and experience, the better, deeper, and more resonant is his work.

At 78, Eastwood is at the prime of his career. With the notable exception of John Huston, who had done some good films in his 70s and up to his death ("Wise Blood," "Prizzi's Honor," "The Dead," his very last picture), it's hard to think of another major American director who has continues to evolve and sharpen his already commanding skills by applying them to a diversity of genres and stories.(...)

Q: 금남로라는 곡을 만드신 의도가 무엇인가요? 어떻게 그 생각을 하게 되신건가요?

A: 그 곡의 기본은 2006년에 만들었습니다. 너무 개인적인 감정이라 '푸른새벽'에서는 할 수 없었습니다. 1980년 5월 18일 광주에서는 너무나 가슴아픈일이 있었습니다. 언론은 완벽히 통제되어 진실은 알 수 없었고 광주시민들은 '빨갱이(한국의 체제를 부정하고 전복하려는 자들을 일컫는 비속어)''폭도'로 왜곡되었습니다. 제 고향이 그 광주입니다. 81년 광주의 젊은 부부는 일거릴 찾아 자녀들과 서울로 올라왔습니다. 이해하기 어렵겠지만 어린시절 저는 고향을 최대한 숨기며 지냈습니다. 아직도 저희 부모님은 고향을 찾지 못하고 있습니다. 그때의 기억을 떠올리고 싶지 않은가 봅니다. '금남로'라는 곡에 정치적 감정은 전혀 없습니다. 제가 살아오며 경험하고 느꼈던 일이였고 음악인으로 당연히 표현한 것 뿐입니다. (Anna님의 한국인디음악전문블로그 indie ROK과의 인터뷰 한국어판에서 )




그리고, 이 즈음이면 부끄러운 마음에 떠올리게 되는 고종석 님의 에세이...