Clint Eastwood: The Director's Collection

Five films directed by and, in two cases, starring Clint Eastwood. In 'Gran Torino' (2008), curmudgeonly Korean War veteran and racist Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) catches Asian teenager Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang) trying to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino car. He then sets out on a personal mission to bring him into line - an act that causes waves throughout the gang-dominated neighbourhood. 'Flags of Our Fathers' and 'Letters From Iwo Jima' are two parts of one story. 'Flags of Our Fathers' (2006) is based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers. In February 1945, even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory. 'Letters from Iwo Jima' (2006) is based on the book 'Picture Letters from Commander in Chief' by Tadamichi Kuribayashi. The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favour the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. 'Mystic River' (2003) is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Set in the Irish community of Boston, it tells the story of three childhood friends who have drifted apart over the years owing to a violent and disturbing experience they shared as children, and are forcibly reunited many years later following another tragic event. When ex-con Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn)'s 19-year-old daughter Katie is murdered, the homicide detectives assigned to the case are Whitney Powers (Laurence Fishburne) and Jimmy's old friend Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon). Behind the scenes, Jimmy asks two of his relatives, the Savage brothers, to mount their own investigation, and the finger of suspicion begins to point to the final person in the childhood trio, Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins), who is now a broken man. 'Unforgiven' (1992) is a gritty Western set in 1880s Kansas. Ageing gunslinger-turned-farmer William Munny (Eastwood) reluctantly agrees to come out of retirement to help 'The Schofield Kid' (Jaimz Woolvett) collect the bounty on a wanted murderer. The man in question cut up a prostitute in a lawless town lorded over by the corrupt Sheriff 'Little Bill' Daggett (Gene Hackman), and if Munny, the kid, and Munny's partner, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), want to catch him they are going to have to deal with Daggett first.