White Hunter, Black Heart

Starring:Alun Armstrong, Marisa Berenson, Charlotte Cornwell, David Danns, Anne Dunkley, George Dzundza, Jeff Fahey, Christopher Fairbank, Myles Freeman, Geoffrey Hutchings, Jamie Koss, Norman Lumsden, Clive Mantle, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Catherine Neilson, John Rapley, Edward Tudor-Pole, Richard Vanstone, Richard Warwick
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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Unjustly overlooked in Clint Eastwood's oeuvre, this critical examination of the hubris of machismo predated Unforgiven by just two years and meditated on similar themes. Eastwood plays a macho movie director, in Africa ostensibly to shoot a movie, but more pressingly (to his mind, anyway) to bag an elephant. The story is based loosely on the true story of John Huston's behavior while making The African Queen; Eastwood's Huston imitation (the character here is named Wilson) will no doubt prove distracting to some--he drawls out vowels to the point of breaking--but he captures both the arrogance of and the magnetic force behind the man. The film boasts splendid visuals by cinematographer Jack Green, and the final scene--and Eastwood's performance therein--is nearly heartbreaking. --David Kronke

Description

Clint eastwood stars in and directs the colorful tale of a flamboyant filmmaker's flair for danger and adventure while on location in Africa, based on Peter Viertel's novel inspired by The African Queen. Year: 1990 Director: Clint Eastwood Starring: Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza

Customer Reviews:

A look into the heart of greed.......2007-03-27

There aren't too many movies that I think are even close to perfect. White hunter, black heart is one of them.

I just finished watching this film for the first time in a couple of years. It is visceral is an intellectual way -- Huh? -- meaning that one must use both head and heart to really got the most of it.

The film is wrapped around John Wilson, a fictional John Huston at the time he was filming "African Queen," also a favorite of mine, as seen by Peter (Peter Viertel).

Wilson looked at things through a director's eye, analyzing everything to death. But, once analyzed, he acted emotionally -- witness the scenes with the pretty "god-damnest ugly bitch"," the hotel manager, and Kivu, the chief hunter. However, he formed relationships that were superficially intellectual, never really showing his emotions, but always deep. He relished being colorful, and the people around him had to be as colorful as he, himself, was, otherwise they would bore him.

This combination of traits fascinates me. And Clint Eastwood's dead-on "impersonation" of the great man is loving and humorous. The other characters -- with the exception of Peter -- are merely window dressing.

Show you see this film, and perhaps purchase it for your collection? Of course. But don't take it so much as a look into the making of a film -- take it as a portrait of a great man with equally great imperfections.

Clint as the African King.......2006-01-27

Peter Viertel went to Africa with filmmaker John Huston to work on the script of THE AFRICAN QUEEN; from his experinces there he wrote the novel WHITE HUNTER, BLACK HEART. Here Clint Eastwood plays Houston, an egocentric man of action who becomes obsessed with killing a big-husked elephant - almost to the detriment of making THE AFRICAN QUEEN. Eastwood is uncanny (and at times forced and pretentious) as he tries to act and talk like the famous director, but in a way it's the perfect role for him: Huston as the bigger-than-life, Hemingway-like bully who believes in taking risks and being nonconformist mirrors Eastwood's Hollywood persona (think HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, JOSIE WALES, even DIRTY HARRY) as actor and director.

The movie is a multi-leveled look at Huston (named John Wilson), and we see he's a fighting man for what's right and decent (he gets in a fist fight over the mistreatment of a black servant), but at the same time he can be cruel to his friends and bosses and exploitive of others. And to his credit, Eastwood is faithful to this good/mostly bad portrayal, and there's no sugar-coating at the end.

"The only sin you can buy a license to commit.".......2005-09-08

White Hunter, Black Heart seems even more impressive today than when it came out, and certainly didn't deserve its fate as the biggest box-office disaster of Eastwood's career - the same year's unsuccessful release of The Rookie took ten times more money and even Pink Cadillac outgrossed it (and that never got released outside the US). Interestingly, it seems well aware of it's problem for a main stream audience and goes out of its way to prepare them for the huge shift of tone in the last reels, setting up its own dark ending with its wonderfully written and performed early arguments about lousy little gods deciding who lives or dies in the movies. Indeed, the first half is so much fun that you tend not to notice its setting up some big issues along the way - racism, anti-Semitism, honesty, obsession and above all morality. Morality and responsibility ignored in favor of indulgence and impulse, however charismatic and entertaining it may seem, run throughout the film as Eastwood's John Huston - sorry, John Wilson - sets out to commit "the only sin you can buy a license to commit."

It's easily Eastwood's most unusual and atypical performance, abandoning his own screen persona for a large as life approximation rather than an impersonation of John Huston: the vocal cadences are there but downplayed, along with the vainglory and self-awareness. It's a fine performance and just his bad luck that Angelica Huston was on the Cannes jury that year. (African Queen co-producer John Woolf also went out of his way to damn the film as `irresponsible lies' despite its admission that its fiction.) Visually the best looking of Eastwood's films as a director, possibly because it's shot in daylight for once (Eastwood has often commented on not having plastic surgery: true, but he does tend to turn all the lights out in interior scenes instead!), but also because the visual design is so interesting, particularly as Wilson increasingly sets himself apart from the rest of the cast and crew, relegated to brooding in foreground shadows. Impressive stuff, and very entertaining with it - and a quick nod to George Dzundza's thinly-disguised Sam Spiegel while I'm at it.

The widescreen 1.85:1 DVD transfer is good, but the only extra is a brief trailer.

On Safari With Clint..........2004-12-23

This review refers to "White Hunter, Black Heart" DVD (Warner Bros)...

It won't take long for film lovers to realize that this character study is a thinly veiled look at the strong willed movie Director John Huston. Clint Eastwood portrays John "Wilson", who is about to set off for Africa to film what appears to be "African Queen". He's going to do it his way, at any cost. He's arrogant, always going against the grain, using exaggerated methods, and exasperating those who he employs and those who employ him as well. And through it all, always seem to land on his feet.

Wilson will not hear of filming anywhere but on location in Africa. Authenticity for the film?..maybe..but most of all he has dreams of bagging the big one. An elephant. He becomes obsessed with his mission. First delaying the film production, making the cast and crew wait for him, and finally to the point of a horrible tragedy.

Eastwood digs deep for this one. Although the story is "loosely" based on Huston, we get the feeling that this is what Huston is all about and this is the way it actually happened. His superb talent as he goes through the range of emotions and character traits flawlessly, has the audience loving and hating Wilson at the same time. One moment we are cheering him on for being a defender of humanity, then smiling at his boyish charms and antics, and the next, we want to shake him as he is on his quest to kill an elephant at any cost. Eastwood brilliantly portrays the bigger than life "Wilson" as a man obsessed, but who has not come to terms with his own obsession.

A marvelous job of Directing by the multi-talented Eastwood as well. Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza, amd Marisa Berenson add their wonderful talents as well.

An excellent transfer to DVD by Warner Bros. Filmed in Zimbabwe and London, the widescreen takes in all the splendor and sights of the locations. The DD5.1 surround puts the sounds of Africa right there in your living room. There are subtitles in several languages including English, French and Spanish, and may be viewed in French, Japanese and Portuguese as well.

Travel to Africa with Clint and enjoy....Laurie

A Hidden Treasure.......2002-11-20

Clint Eatwoods in the 90's just got better and better as a director. This is wonderfull movie and I cant wait for it to be released on DVD

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