IFFI-2008 - International Film Festival of India

COMPETITION
CINEMA OF THE WORLD
IFFI-2008
USA
Changeling
2008, 35 mm, Colour, 140 mins, English
Director
Clint Eastwood
Screenplay
J. Michael Straczynski
Cinematography
Tom Stern
Editor
Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
Music
Clint Eastwood
Cast
Angelina Jolie (Christine Collins), John Malkovich (Reverend
Gustav Briegleb), Gattlin Griffith (Walter Collins), Michelle
Martin (Sandy), Michael Kelly (Detective Lester Ybarra)
Production Design
James J. Murakami
Art
Patrick M. Sullivan Jr.
Costumes
Deborah Hopper
Production
Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
Festivals
Cannes, New York, Deauville
The film is set in late 1920s Los Angeles and is based on the true story of a woman who
recognises that the boy returned to her after a kidnapping is not her son. After
confronting the city authorities, she is vilified as an unfit mother and branded delusional.
In 1928 Los Angeles, single mother Christine Collins returns home one day to discover
her nine-year-old son, Walter is missing. Reverend Gustav Briegleb publicises
Christine's plight and rails against the Los Angeles Police Department for its
incompetence, corruption and the extrajudicial punishment meted by its "Gun Squad",
led by Police Chief James E. Davis. Several months later, Christine is told that her son
has been found alive. A reunion is organised at Union Station by police, who believe that
the positive publicity will negate recent criticism of the department. When Christine sees
"Walter" she doesn't recognise him. Captain Jones pressures a confused Christine into
taking the boy home "on a trial basis". After Christine confronts Jones with physical
discrepancies between "Walter" and her son, Jones has a doctor visit her. He tells
Christine that "Walter" is shorter because trauma has shrunk his spine, and pressures
neighbourhood children and an adult neighbour with poor eyesight into identifying the
boy as Walter. A newspaper story appears that implies Christine is an unfit mother.
Walter's teacher and dentist give Christine signed letters confirming that "Walter" is an
impostor…At Jones' order, Christine is taken to Los Angeles County Hospital's
psychopathic ward…Detective Ybarra is called to a ranch to arrange a boy's deportation
to Canada….
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. needs no introduction to film lovers worldwide. A
dashing star best known in earlier years for his tough guy, anti-hero acting roles in action
and western films, particularly in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, his performances as the
laconic Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's "Dollars trilogy" of A Fistful of Dollars
(1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), and
as Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry films have seen him become an
enduring icon of masculinity.Eastwood has won five Academy Awards-twice each as
Best Director and as producer of the Best Picture and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial
Award in 1995. He has also been nominated twice for Best Actor, for his performances in
Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. His recent films in particular, like Million Dollar
Baby (2004) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), and also earlier Revisionist Western
films such as High Plains Drifter (1973), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and
Unforgiven (1992) have all received a significant degree of critical acclaim. Eastwood
also has an interest in politics and was elected Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
in which he served from 1986 to 1988.
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