Clint Eastwood puts his cowboy hat back on: the great actor of Sergio Leone’s Dollar Trilogy and director of a splendid western like “The Ruthless”, returns to the genre that more than fifty years ago gave him great fame, with “Cry Macho », The main film of the weekend in theaters and presented in these days at the Turin Film Festival.
The director also plays the main character, Mike Milo, a former rodeo star and now a declining horse breeder, who accepts the task of bringing the son of an old boss home from Mexico. The unlikely couple faces an unexpectedly arduous journey, full of unexpected events, but also of unexpected bonds.
Based on the 1975 novel of the same name by N. Richard Nash, “Cry Macho” is a film in which Eastwood tries to overturn the classic stereotype of the western, but the times of the aforementioned “The ruthless” are far away and the result is decidedly distant The important ingredients are not missing in this feature film which, just by re-proposing Clint Eastwood with the cowboy hat, can only arouse curiosity, interest and emotion in the many fans of the actor. , there is a lot of meat on the fire, passing from a reflection on old age to the theme of tolerance and bonds that go beyond those of blood between people of different generations.
A film that excites only at times
There are many interesting ideas, which however Eastwood has often dealt with in the past: several references that refer to “Gran Torino” and various other films in the director’s filmography. determined, but the hint of already seen becomes too strong in this work, even lower than his just previous films (think of “Il corriere – The Mule”, for example). If initially “Cry Macho” manages to touch the strings right, in the central part and above all with the approach of the conclusion the exciting moments are not very many and also the final sequence is colder than expected. Of course, seeing the face marked by time of Eastwood on the big screen is always a pleasure, but in this case, unfortunately, is not enough.
Compartment no. 6
Among the novelties in the cinema there is also the surprising Finnish film «Compartment nr. 6 “, winner of the Grand Prix at the last Cannes Film Festival, ex aequo with” A Hero “by Asghar Farhadi. Directed by Juho Kuosmanen, director known for” The true story of Olli Mäki “in 2016,” Compartimento nr. 6 »tells of a young Finnish woman who escapes an enigmatic love story in Moscow by boarding a train headed for the Arctic Circle. The girl is forced to share a small cabin with a Russian miner named Ljoha for the whole long journey. can generate unexpected human connections. If you think of a simple love story you are wrong: this curious feature film is an original coming-of-age story that thinks about how you can grow through contact with others.
King Crab
A nice surprise is also «Re Granchio» by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis. Presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at the last Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of Luciano, a late 19th century drunkard who lived in a village in Tuscia . His lifestyle and his rebellion against the despotic local prince have made him an outcast for the rest of the community: in an extreme attempt to protect the woman he loves from the prince, Luciano commits a nefarious act that forces him to flee into exile in the Tierra del Fuego. This intense film staged an existential journey, which speaks of adventure and redemption with remarkable clarity. Despite some unripe and somewhat redundant passages, it is one of the most curious Italian works of the year and far from the usual canons of our home productions.