White Hunter, Black Heart (1990)

Synopsis: When John Huston left for Africa to shoot THE AFRICAN QUEEN, he asked his friend, writer Peter Viertel, to come along with him, ostensibly to help him polish James Agee's script. Eventually, Viertel wrote a fictionalized account of his experience with Huston in Africa, WHITE HUNTER, BLACK... When John Huston left for Africa to shoot THE AFRICAN QUEEN, he asked his friend, writer Peter Viertel, to come along with him, ostensibly to help him polish James Agee's script. Eventually, Viertel wrote a fictionalized account of his experience with Huston in Africa, WHITE HUNTER, BLACK HEART. Almost 30 years later, Clint Eastwood made a film of that novel. Eastwood plays director John Wilson, a man clearly modeled after Huston. Wilson is a gregarious and tremendously engaging character, very different from the strong, silent image of Eastwood his fans have grown to know. At the same time, like many of Clint's characters, Wilson is a man who lives by his own rules. He goes to Africa, far more interested in shooting an elephant on safari than in shooting his movie. His real obsession seems to be his image of himself as a man of action. Wilson is a rascal, somewhat admirable in his ideals, but he's also selfish, stubborn, and irresponsible. Eventually, his pursuit leads to tragedy in Eastwood's most scathing and powerful critique of the macho image he himself has built a career on. It's perhaps the most complex and compelling work Eastwood has done as an actor. [More]