譯/杜磊 審訂/肖維青

像一切有成就的偉人一樣，伊斯特伍德的人生也歷經沉浮，其間有一點運氣，大部分靠的是拼搏。他的命運提醒著人們，一個人如果能找對自己在這個世界上的位置，就能干出一番成就。世上就有這么一個人，天生就該演西部片里的反派，做西部片的導演。伊斯特伍德就是那個集演員與導演于一身的人，我們很幸運，因為正是他給我們帶來了那么多經典西部電影。

早年歲月

小克林特·伊斯特伍德出生于1930年5月31日，父親是大克林特·伊斯特伍德，母親是瑪格麗特·露絲·伊斯特伍德。由于父親工作的緣故，他們家屢次搬遷，但是克林特得以在加利福尼亞州的皮德蒙特度過了絕大部分童年時光。他就讀于奧克蘭技術高中。整個高中期間，各種各樣的雜活兒他都干過，包括救生員、伐木工人、森林消防隊員和加油站服務員。1951年，他應征入伍，參加了美國陸軍，在加利福尼亞奧德堡擔任游泳教練。有人說他當時為了不被送去朝鮮戰(zhàn)場，竟和某個奧德堡官員的千金談了一場戀愛，但此謠傳未經證實。以前，軍人搭乘軍用飛機請假回家是件稀松平常的事?？烧沁@樣一次飛行讓伊斯特伍德險些送了命。當時，他搭乘一架二戰(zhàn)中服役過的道格拉斯“天襲者”號，那架飛機燃料耗盡，最后在加利福尼亞雷伊斯角附近墜海。落水后，他和飛行員不得不在鯊魚出沒的水域里足足游了3英里才安全到岸，熟悉水性這個本領幫了他大忙。伊斯特伍德后來說，當時他根本不知道這片水域會有鯊魚出沒，如果當時清楚的話，他很可能就游不到岸了。但是，我們很高興他成功了！在服役期間，伊斯特伍德結識了演員戴維·詹森和馬丁·米爾納，兩人讓他萌發(fā)了去好萊塢闖蕩一番的念頭。就這樣，1954年，他結束了軍旅生涯，只身趕赴好萊塢。到了那里之后，他只找到了一點點機會，如在電影《狼蛛》和《造物復仇》這樣的片子里跑跑龍?zhí)?。那些年，他做演員的日子過得很苦，星運暗淡，竟一度潦倒到為富人去山上挖游泳池的地步。直到1958年，在當時頗受歡迎的西部系列劇《皮鞭》中，他得到了扮演羅迪·耶茨這個角色的機會，人生這才有了第一次大轉機。

所以我們就開始游了。當時已經是十月末十一月初了，水冷得刺骨。多年以后，我才知道這個區(qū)域是個大白鯊的繁殖地，但是我很高興當時并不清楚，要不然，我可能早就死在那里了?！肆痔亍ひ了固匚榈?/p>

《皮鞭》

據稱，他是去好萊塢的哥倫比亞廣播公司拜訪一位朋友時獲得的這個角色。一位工作室經理看中了他，因為他有著一副“牛仔樣兒”。伊斯特伍德當時的片酬是750美元一集。由于此片在60年代初風靡一時，克林特·伊斯特伍德的人氣也隨之飆升，不久，他就因扮演年輕魯莽的羅迪·耶茨這一角色而在全美家喻戶曉。然而，此時的伊斯特伍德對這個角色卻感到不甚舒服，因為他覺得自己的氣質更適合演一個年長有閱歷的角色。這部戲他演了8季。拍攝最后一季之前，埃里克·弗萊明辭演了，他即成為此劇的領銜主演，身價也暴漲到11.9萬美元一集。《皮鞭》也是伊斯特伍德職業(yè)生涯工作時長最長的幾部戲之一，甚至一天達12個小時。這在他后來開始執(zhí)導之后發(fā)生了巨大轉變。大家都知道他拍攝起來時間非常緊湊，往往拍一兩次就完成了，午飯后大家就散場回家。在拍攝《皮鞭》的時候，伊斯特伍德就已經開始對導演這份工作躍躍欲試。他拍了幾部預告片，甚至試圖說服制片人讓他來導演其中一集，雖然最后沒能如愿。正當他拍《皮鞭》熱火朝天的時候，又有人向他伸出了橄欖枝。一個叫賽爾喬·萊昂內的家伙在西班牙拍西部片，正好缺一個牛仔。包括亨利·方達、查爾斯·布朗森和詹姆斯·柯伯恩在內的一些好萊塢演員都不愿意接手這個角色，最后他在理查德·哈里森的推薦下找到了伊斯特伍德。我們現(xiàn)在都知道了，這部片子就叫《荒野大鏢客》，它開啟了克林特·伊斯特伍德一段偉大的“星運”之程。

《皮鞭》這部戲中的主角是個老好人，不管是對老婦還是狗都是一副“溫唇脈脈”的樣子，這種“白帽子”形象，我已經提不起任何興趣來演了。那時候，我下定決心要演個反派來試試?！肆痔亍ひ了固匚榈?/p>

“鏢客”三部曲

《荒野大鏢客》是三部曲里的第一部，這三部曲既可以定義伊斯特伍德的演藝生涯，又可以為西部類型片樹立典范。賽爾喬·萊昂內一心想重塑西部片，一改往日西部片故事情節(jié)雷同、毫無新意的面貌。他想在畫面上添加一些全新的元素，風格粗獷但卻真實可信。結果他成就了這個“無名氏”，一個伊斯特伍德一度苦苦尋覓而不得的反派角色。不久以后，人人都看出來了，讓伊斯特伍德來扮演這個角色簡直堪稱完美。他的男子氣概就擺在那兒，一言不發(fā)就吸引了眾多西部片擁躉，一夜之間，幾乎每個人都想變成他的樣子。后來的那部《黃昏雙鏢客》也一樣大獲成功，但是，三部曲里只有第三部大結局《黃金三鏢客》才算得上真正經典。該片不僅成為西部片的經典，還成為電影制作的藝術典范。該片的場景、角色、服裝造型（特別是克林特·伊斯特伍德的龐喬斗篷），都成為我們沿用至今的電影文化坐標。此片成為狂野西部片的靈魂之作，讓西部片這把火熊熊燃燒了好幾十年。

“鏢客”三部曲的故事不同于其他西部片，影片的場面和風格在當時稍顯不同。我認為任何一部都和約翰·韋恩1956年的《搜索者》那樣的經典故事片不一樣。三部曲的手法更像是一種剪影式、連載式的，通過一系列故事來展現(xiàn)中心人物?！肆痔亍ひ了固匚榈?/p>

演而優(yōu)則導

直到1967年，“鏢客”三部曲才在美國本土上映。雖然評論界不叫好，但是這一系列電影卻出乎意料地叫座，也捧紅了克林特·伊斯特伍德。翌年，伊斯特伍德主演了另一部西部片《獨行俠殲虎屠龍》，該片是美國制作，也一樣大獲成功。與此同時，他也開始嘗試拓寬戲路，在保持自己獨特表演風格的基礎上轉而出演一些其他的類型片。他主演了一部庫根拍攝的帶有西部片元素的偵探片《獨行鐵金剛》，以及一部二戰(zhàn)電影《血染雪山堡》。此時，伊斯特伍德為了實現(xiàn)導演夢，已經創(chuàng)立了自己的電影制作公司Malpaso。這家公司是伊斯特伍德后來職業(yè)生涯的中心，后期他的絕大部分電影都是由這家公司出品的。1971年, 他執(zhí)導了他的第一部電影《迷霧追魂》, 一部心理驚悚片，講述了一個電臺DJ（伊斯特伍德扮演）被女粉絲跟蹤的故事。同樣在1971年，克林特·伊斯特伍德還塑造了“骯臟的哈里”這個標志性角色。伊斯特伍德迅速成為好萊塢的大牌影星。這一時期他的作品極為豐富，但卻一直沒有中斷經典西部片的拍攝：《烈女與鏢客》（1970）、《猛龍煞星》（1972）以及他第一次執(zhí)導的西部片——《荒野浪子》（1973）。到70年代末，他又拍了《不法之徒邁·韋爾斯》（1976），該片根據福里斯特·卡特的小說《去了得克薩斯》改編。據稱，是伯特·雷諾茲把這個機會讓給伊斯特伍德的。該片獲得廣泛認可，伊斯特伍德認為該片是他職業(yè)生涯中的亮點之一。此后將近十年的時間，伊斯特伍德都沒有再拍過任何一部西部片。直到1985年，他才通過《蒼白騎士》重返西部片，一舉創(chuàng)下80年代西部片票房最高紀錄。1992年，伊斯特伍德拍攝了一部在評論界頗有口碑的《不可饒恕》，并以此片作為告別西部片生涯的謝幕之作。此片被認為是電影史上水平最高、最地道的西部片之一，很多人甚至認為此片超越了“鏢客”三部曲。伊斯特伍德曾說過，四五十年代浪漫風格的西部片很棒，但他想在銀幕上呈現(xiàn)的是真真切切漫天黃沙的西部世界。對于再拍一部西部片，伊斯特伍德尚不置可否，但他說過，只要他活著就會拍電影，所以這事兒還有希望！

每個人都問我為什么你不再拍一部西部片了，好吧，這件事說說簡單，做起來就難了。因為如果缺乏素材（故事），故事無趣，那么除了復制自己或者模仿他人，整個電影毫無意義。——克林特·伊斯特伍德 □

Like all great achievers Eastwood’s life have been ups and downs, a bit of luck and a lot of hard work. His life is a reminder of what a man can do if he finds his right place in the world. It just so happens that this man was made to be a badass western actor and director.Fortunately for us it all came together for Eastwood so that he was able to deliver the countless classics that we still enjoy to this day.

Early Years

Clinton “Clint” Eastwood Jr. was born on May 31st 1930 to parents Clinton Eastwood Sr. and Margaret Ruth Eastwood. The family moved around a lot due to Eastwood Sr.’s work, however, Clint spent most of his childhood in Piedmont, California. He attended Oakland Technical High School and during his high school years he had different odd jobs in the local area including lifeguard, logger, forest firefighter and gas station attendant. In 1951 he was drafted into the US army and served as a swimming instructor at Fort Ord in California. Some say he avoided being sent to Korea by dating the daughter of one of the of ficers at Fort Ord but this rumor is unconfirmed. In those days it was normal for serving men to hitch a ride on the army planes when they were going home on leave. During one of such flights Eastwood’s life almost came to a horrific end when the plane he was on, a WWII Douglas Skyraider,ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean near Point Reyes in California.His skills in the water came in handy as he and the pilot had to swim 3 miles through shark infested waters to reach the shore. Eastwood has later said that at the time he didn’t know that there were sharks in the area and that if he had known he probably wouldn’t have made it. We are glad he did though!In the army Eastwood made friends with actors David Janssen and Martin Millner who exposed him to the idea of moving to Hollywood which he did after ending his time in the military in 1954. In Hollywood he had a few minor roles in movies such as Tarantula and Revenge of the Creature. He had some rough years with not much luck as an actor and at one point he had to resort to digging swimming pools for the rich people in the hills. He got his first big break in 1958 when he landed the role as Rowdy Yates in the popular western series Rawhide.

So we went swimming. It was late October, November. Very cold water. I found out many years later that it was a white shark breeding ground, but I’m glad I didn’t know that at the time or I’d have just died. —Clint Eastwood

Rawhide

Allegedly he got the role when he went to visit a friend at CBS in Hollywood and a studio executive called him out because he had the “cowboy look”. Eastwood was hired for 750$ an episode. As the show’s popularity rose through the early sixties, so did Clint Eastwood’s and soon he was known far and wide in the US as the young and foolhardy Rowdy Yates. Eastwood,however, did not feel comfortable in this role as he felt his temperament was more fitted for an older and more experienced character. He stayed in the job for 8 seasons and even became the lead actor of the series when Eric Fleming quit before shooting the final season, skyrocketing Eastwood’s salary to 119,000$ pr. episode. Eastwood had some of the longest days of his career while working on Rawhide, up to twelve hours a day. This drastically changed when he himself started directing as he is known to run a tight shooting schedule. One or two shots and it’s done, everyone goes home after lunch.While shooting Rawhide, Eastwood already started tinkering with directing.He shot a few trailers for the show and even tried convincing the producers to let him direct an episode but to no avail.While he was still doing Rawhide, an offer came to Eastwood. A guy called Sergio Leone was making a western in Spain and he needed a cowboy. A bunch of Hollywood actors, including Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and James Coburn, had declined the job before it was offered to Eastwood on recommendation of Richard Harrison. The movie was A Fistfull of Dollars and as we already know, this was the beginning of a great career for Clint Eastwood.

In Rawhide I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat1西部片中，戴白帽子的是正面角色，戴黑帽子的是反派。. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody. I decided it was time to be an anti hero. —Clint Eastwood

The Dollars Trilogy

A Fistful of Dollars was the first of three movies that would come to de fine both Eastwood’s acting career and the genre of western movies. Sergio Leone was looking to reinvent the genre which had become repetitive and unoriginal.He wanted to bring something new to the picture, something raw and violent yet believable. This became the Man With No Name, the anti hero character that Eastwood was searching for at the time. It would soon be apparent that Eastwood fit the role perfectly. His macho and non-verbal demeanor became a hit among western fans and suddenly everybody wanted to be like him. The follow up, For a Few Dollars More,was also a success but it was the third and final movie, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, that really hit home. It became a classic not only of the genre but of the art form of movie making. The scenes,the characters, the costumes (particularly Clint Eastwood’s poncho), it all became cultural reference points that we still use to this day. It became the essence of the wild west and it revived the genre for many decades to come.

[The Dollars trilogy] were stories that hadn’t been used in other Westerns.They just had a look and a style that was a little different at the time. I don’t think any of them was a classic story like [John Wayne’s 1956] The Searchers or something like that. They were more fragmented, episodic, following the central character through various little episodes. —Clint Eastwood

Ensuing Success and Directing

The Dollars trilogy wasn’t shown in the United States until 1967. Despite its bad reviews it turned out to be a huge success that made Clint Eastwood a major star. The year after Eastwood starred in another western picture, this time the American produced Hang ’Em High, which was also a success. He also started experimenting with other genres while still sticking to his trademark acting style. He starred in Coogan’s Bluff, a detective story with western influences, and Where Eagles Dare, a WWII flick. By this time Eastwood had founded his own production company,Malpaso Productions, in order to realize his ambitions as a director. This company would be the center of activity for the rest of Eastwood’s career, producing the majority of his movies. In 1971 he directed his first movie, Play Misty For Me, a psychological thriller about a radio DJ (Eastwood) who gets stalked by a female fan. ’71 was also the year of birth of another iconic Clint Eastwood character, Dirty Harry. Eastwood was quickly becoming an institution in Hollywood. He had a lot on his plate in those days but he kept making classic westerns throughout this period. Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Joe Kidd(1972) and High Plains Drifter (1973),the first western directed by Eastwood himself. He did one more western in the 70’s, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).The movie was based on the novel Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter which Eastwood was allegedly given by Burt Reynolds. The movie was well received and Eastwood considers it one of the highlights of his career. After The Outlaw Josey Wales Eastwood didn’t make another western for almost a decade. In 1985 he returned to the genre with the movie Pale Rider which became the highest grossing western of the 80’s.In 1992 Eastwood put the final dot on his western career with the critically acclaimed Unforgiven. It is considered one of the best and most real westerns of all time and many even believe it to be even better than the classic Dollar trilogy. Eastwood has said that the romanticizing westerns of the 40’s and 50’s were great but he wanted to show the real gritty west and how he imagined it would really have been with this picture. On the topic of making another western, Eastwood has neither dismissed nor con firmed anything, however, he has said that he will continue making movies for as long as he lives so there is still hope!

Everyone says why don’t you do another western, well that’s easier said than done because if you don’t have the material [the story] and if people don’t write an interesting take on it then it doesn’t add up to anything except repeating yourself or imitating somebody else. —Clint Eastwood ■