CLINT EASTWOOD'S BRIDGE TO GREATNESS

By Graham Young on May 4, 2008 9:18 AM | Permalink

WE always knew that Clint Eastwood was a great star, producer and director - one of a kind in the modern era.
But The Bridges of Madison County (1995) - showing tonight on Channel 5 from 8.05pm - was the film which, literally, bridged the gap.
Most people are retiring at the age of 65, but that's how old Clint (b May 31, 1930) was when this came out.
And, since then, he's had more Academy Awards-recognised success than he ever had before, thanks to back-to-back movies Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.
Anyone who has lost one or both parents might want to sit down to watch The Bridges of Madison County tonight, with a favourite glass of wine.
When a colleague recently lost his father and had to go down to London to empty his flat, the first thing I gave him was my original VHS copy (which I quickly replaced on DVD).
He hasn't found the time to watch it yet, but, when he does, it will have him on his knees.
Make the time to enjoy and savour the film yourself and you'll be surprised how it can move you and bring back lots of family memories of your own.
And then you'll realise how much more there is to Clint Eastwood than just cowboys and cops.
Carry on reading below for some of the great quotes he gave me when we met up at Claridges Hotel in London in September, 1995.

THE Bridges of Madison County is the moving story of an Italian mother (Meryl Streep) who has a four day love affair with a passing photographer.
He's a learned man of the world who creates within her an intensity of feeling she never believed in her wildest dreams could ever be possible.
Canny Clint doesn't say whether it's something he's truly found or not.
But he says: 'Having one great love is what the film is about. But every life is different. There seems to be room for several great loves in life but probably not more than that.'
Would he leave messages for his own children so that they could learn more about the real Clint?
'Probably not!' he laughs. 'I'm not sure I would want them to know!
'My father? I wish I knew more. He also died suddenly. It's that guilt thing. Why didn't I play golf and spend more time with him?
'But kids are selfish doing their own thing. I guess that's the way it's meant to be.'
He admits that one of the interesting questions the film poses relates to the sexuality of your parents.
'Do they really do anything at all - I think that's fun to do in a picture.
'It's something that every child goes through as a young adult.
'They often think that parents never had a life before or, if they did, they gave it up for the kids.'
Certainly age hasn't dimmed his legendary, no-nonsense 'Go ahead, make my day' sense of humour.
Ask him what he thinks in hindsight of his appearance in the 50s TV series Rawhide, for example, and he chews his answer over carefully for a few seconds before replying with typical economy and a loud laugh: 'Tom Cruise... eat your heart out!
'That's what I was then. That's the way I looked,' he adds. 'But I know more now and maybe I have more fun knowing what I know now.
'Maybe it will come to the day when the one outweighs the other.'
I think we can safely say it certainly has.

* Don't forget my earlier blog... Clint's jazz-star son Kyle Eastwood is coming to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath on May 13.