«Cry Macho»: the cowboy's hoarse voice

Cinema Wednesdays - Jordi Gabioud

After directing dozens of films, and tirelessly embodying his convictions - for which he has the looks - for almost 70 years, what more can we expect from the legend? With his prolific career, Clint Eastwood has brought us the best and the worst. Cry Macho could - should - have been presented as a sort of retrospective of his career, through the themes of the transmission, construction and aging of a legend. Nothing is less certain.

Right from the opening, a sunset. A melancholy country scene, a riderless horse on its back, an old jalopy with peeling paint. A boot sticks out, and for a moment we sense his lack of balance, then a piece of American film history is revealed beneath his inseparable cowboy hat.

A schizophrenic film

How difficult it is to grow old! With Cry Macho, Clint Eastwood is constantly torn between the legend he has always embodied and wishes to continue embodying, and the man with sagging skin, deep wrinkles and a hunched back. We would have liked the two to have coincided; this aging, diminished body would have led the film to the retrospective it richly deserves. Deploying this acerbic gaze to a commentary on the self, that's what the trailer suggested. Unfortunately, we won't find anything more than what served as bait. For Clint Eastwood fights, insults cartel members, outwits the cops in a chase, tames wild horses. And, of course, the man remains more than desirable to women! That's the central problem with this new Eastwood.

While we appreciate seeing our nonagenarian legend able to drive, lie down in the grass to sleep under the stars, trot peacefully on his horse, we also immediately notice the weakness of the editing and script when it comes to making us believe that he can still stand up to a solid bodyguard three times his age. We also notice the understudy taming the spirited horse and scratching at the legend and his libertarian message of an individual capable of fending for himself and still taking on his job... Two bodies of Eastwood rub shoulders without really managing to cohabit: that of a veteran who sticks to his naps, aware of his age and taking advantage of it to give each of his words a certain form of wisdom, and that of the legend, unshakeable, even if it means using understudies to keep the American dream alive. We'd have liked more of the former and less of the latter.

Is Clint Eastwood still a Republican?

It's been a long time since the United States was so divided. The Trump administration has crystallized deep-seated oppositions that had been plaguing the country for a long time, like something left unsaid that many wanted to see brought out into the open. Eastwood was one of them. Then came the second election, in which Trump sank further into excess, refusing conciliation, delegitimizing the electoral system to the point of risking a coup d'état on January 6. This time, Eastwood publicly announced that he was no longer following him. Had the cowboy disavowed his party?

With Cry Macho, Eastwood leaves his homeland for Mexico. Leaving behind his debts and an unsupportive country, he finds refuge in a more welcoming village. He is offered shelter, protection from the cartels, and even the luxury of romance. Perhaps we need to revisit the myth of the cowboy heading off to the rising sun: is it because he wants to preserve his iconic solitude, or is it simply that in the United States, unlike in Mexico, he's never been given the right welcome?

Read also | With The Mule, Clint Eastwood has nothing left to prove

Clint Eastwood is a man of moral rectitude. He made his name with For a handful of dollars by Leone, largely based on Yōjimbō by Kurosawa. The way of the Eastwoodian cowboy is not far from the way of the samurai. Solitary but humanistic, close to nature, relying above all on himself, and above all, demonstrating moral dignity and honor. Once again, Eastwood defends the weakest, even when the weakest is himself. In Eastwood's logic, to deny one's weaknesses is to overcome them.

It would be a bit hasty to contrast the cowboy figure with the macho one. On hearing Rafa speak, the macho man wants to impose himself by force. But Eastwood reminds him that this figure is a little «overrated»; the idiots who seek to stage their power lack the moral high ground of the cowboy. Against the backdrop of these implied words, it's hard not to imagine the sad end of the relationship between our legendary cowboy and Trump. In the end, through these values, the filmmaker remained more Republican than today's Trumpist Republicans.

Cry Macho has the weaknesses of age: too soft, too demonstrative, incapable of surprising us. But can you blame a nonagenarian for his own weaknesses? On the contrary, from this point of view, Cry Macho shows us an impressive vitality, a still lively clarity of purpose, a slight surprise in self-criticism and above all a mad desire to live and live again, for legends at any age are immortal.

Write to the author: jordi.gabioud@leregardlibre.com

Photo credits: © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.