Play Misty for Me

[Jon O'Brien]

We watched this last night, on a DVD I got at an op shop (an op shop is what they call them here in Australia. It's a second hand shop).

What a great little film, Eastwood's directorial debut (Malpaso Productions). I'd seen it before, on late night tv, back in my teens, but had largely forgotten it.

Made very much in-camera (and in the editing room). Low budget but a classic. On the BTS footage on the DVD you can see several pics of Eastwood himself filming with an Arriflex IIC camera with the underneath pistol grip motor, and a modern cinema lens on the front, for MOS shots. Or at least looking through the viewfinder but it does look like he's filming the shot in one pic. He's doing all sorts of cool shots, on his back on the floor, and that kind of thing. Handmade cinema I call it. Completely shot on film, no video village, no video tap, no cgi, no extensive post work.

Films back then, if they were made by an artist filmmaker, have a humanity to them. They get under the skin of their characters. It's so real. One of the actresses on the BTS video said that Eastwood wanted a 'European production' feel to the movie. He achieved it.

To me, this style of filmmaking is the perfect answer to AI. Go in the opposite direction.

Edited October 26 by Jon O'Brien

[Jon O'Brien]

There's some really nice shots in this film. Check it out, for the cinematography alone. And then just get carried along by the story! We can make films like this again. All we need to do is believe that we can do it.

[David Lawson]

It is the most terrifying movie I can remember. The tale of someone who devolves into insanity and murderous rage will never leave me.

The story is made better by the great cinematography and direction, one of Eastwood's best.