Smuge!

Clint Eastwood scares people. It’s a fact. Understandable, considering he still has frown marks on his face from Dirty Harry and rarely disproves the myth by showing his smiling face in public. And with Clint the frown of grimness wasn’t a one-off. No, if Hugh Grant can be considered the King of cheese—which is indisputable I think you’ll agree—then Clint Eastwood is the master of somber faced gestures, bottled anger and a veneer of impenetrable discontent. He’s made a living out of it, which is why Changeling is such a surprising film to follow Gran Torino. Tender, brutal and heart-breakingly moving, Changeling tells the true story of a Christine Collins: a woman who loses her son in 1928 Los Angeles, America.

More than any of Eastwood’s films, Changeling goes straight for the jugular, doing so inadvertently, leading the view into a murky labyrinth which seems entirely without hope of escape. Sad to the point of tears in so many places, the absurd plot—something which truly has to be seen to believe it really did happen—rarely fills the viewer with warmth, but somehow doesn’t come off as ice cold or inaccessible. It is Angelina Jolie’s performance as the distraught young woman that makes the film special. She carries off the emotion without it seeming forced, and is suitably backed-up by an excellent John Malkovich—one of the few people in the film who happens to think that Christine is not criminally insane.

Despite all this, Changeling evoked mixed feelings in the media. Perhaps it’s the subject matter, never less than cruel and twisted, or perhaps it’s the innocence. But what truly elevates Changeling above other similar films is its ability to get the viewer on board when Christine’s hurt and innocence seems so obvious, yet the authorities fail to believe in it, despite the facts being so clearly in her favour.

By the way, I just looked up this great firm who agreed to give us a discount on the Bespoke Packaging Boxes for the new band, they also do some realyl great DVD packaging if you look at the portfolio. What do y’all think?

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