Eastwood Knows How to Tell a Story

Marshall Fine, who half writes for the Huffington Post but also for his site, Hollywood and Fine, realizes something unique about Clint Eastwood:

Clint Eastwood’s Invictus made me ruminate about the difference between great movie-making and great story-telling. I hope to go into that subject at greater length in my blog in the near future.

What struck me about Invictus was that Eastwood – nobody’s idea of a flashy or innovative filmmaker – really knows how to tell a story. Eastwood is among the most economical of filmmakers, with little wasted motion and no stylistic flourishes. He’s always all about the story, the action – about telling the tale and getting out of its way.

And on Morgan Freeman:

Freeman’s Mandela is the guiding spirit of the film: the visionary who understands that no real change happens instantly, no matter how impatient people are. Even massive sudden transitions are the result of years of incremental shifts that lead to that final swing. Freeman, a thinking man’s actor, lets us into Mandela’s head without having to explain what he’s got on his mind.