An admission – A review of my Letterboxd stats confirms that if I go back before the eighties the amount of films I’ve seen falls off a cliff.
Upon watching Dirty Harry for the first time I know I’ve added a classic into a lean era of cinematic knowledge.
Well all know the quotes, mainly incorrectly I might add. Nonetheless, Clint Eastwood’s Callahan is an awesome character to behold. Continually fuming and aghast at the state of things, he’s not as snarling as you might think. It’s more subtle than that. But I can see why he started the whole ‘cop who plays by his own rules’ genre.
At first I thought the story meandered, but actually it’s giving us an overall view of San Francisco (through some striking aerial shots), and Harry Callahan’s compelling approach to justice. He’s extremely hands on, knows the deal with different people, and whilst he doesn’t mess about, there is clearly a side of him that cares despite the rage.
The best things I can say are that I want to see more of him, and more of Eastwood.
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