(THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED)
CINEMA RETRO COLUMNIST GARETH OWEN WAS INVITED TO COVER THE SCREENING OF CLINT EASTWOOD'S NEW FILM. AMONG THE SURPRISES WAS AN APPARENT TITLE CHANGE. HERE IS HIS REPORT:
By Gareth
Owen, In Cannes
Clint
Eastwood's latest film Changeling, is apparently now to be known as The Exchange after
the director took a shine to the French translation to the original title. It
premiered in competition at Cannes,
and is one of the front runners for the coveted Palm d'Or award.
The Exchange restored my faith in Hollywood
film-making. Everything about it is exquisite from the script, to performances,
direction, settings and camerawork to the sound, music and editing. It is
film-making the old fashioned way without silly camera tricks, flash cutting or
shaking hand-held shots.
Eastwood
has crafted the story of a mother who's son is abducted with pace, suspense,
tension, horror, emotion and with it carries a startling insight in to the corrupt
1930s LA police force. Angelina
Jolie, in a career best performance, plays Christine Collins - a hard
working single mother in late 1920s California - who returns home
from work one day to find her son has disappeared. Only after 5
months is there a lead on the case, when her young son Walter is spotted in Illinois. He is reunited
to his mother by police captain J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) in front of a
collection of press photographers, but she immediately says that the boy
is not her son, despite him claiming to be. To save embarrassment, the police
ask her to take the boy home. Days pass, and Collins' claims of the boy not
being her son (confirmed by him being 3 inches shorter than Walter and
also being circumcised when Walter was not) fall on dear ears in the LAPD; they
are now keen to push ahead with a positive press and dismiss anyone questioning
their professionalism. Collins fears that time is being wasted in not
continuing the search for Walter, so she goes public. The police, keen to
silence her, incarcerate her in a mental institution.
Only when
community activist (John Malkovich) takes up her case do things start moving,
and Collins is released. Meanwhile in the desert, another police detective -
on a routine illegal child immigrant case - discovers an eerie truth that leads to a dramatic and highly engrossing conclusion.
Eastwood
cements his reputation as being a master of the game with this film. It has
'Oscars' written all over it.
(Cinema Retro has been told by Universal that the title for the U.S. market officially remains Changeling, however it is still undecided whether the new title will be used when the film is released later this year.- Ed.)
FOR MORE PREMIERE COVERAGE AND PHOTOS CLICK HERE