Changeling
2008 · United States · 141 min
- Director
- Clint Eastwood
- Screenplay
- J. Michael Straczynski
- Producer
- Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Robert Lorenz
- Music
- Clint Eastwood
- Cinematography
- Tom Stern
- Editing
- Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
- Production company
- Imagine Entertainment, Relativity Media, Malpaso Productions
- Based on
- Wineville Chicken Coop Murders
Awards: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films · 3 nominations
Cast
What it is about
Los Angeles, 1928. Christine Collins, a single mother who works as a supervisor at a telephone exchange, comes home to find that her nine-year-old son, Walter, has disappeared. Months later, the police present her with a boy who claims to be her son, though she is certain he is not. Officials, eager to protect their reputation, dismiss her objections and commit her to a psychiatric ward, where she meets other women locked away for challenging the police. The film follows her fight for the truth against a corrupt police department.
How it was made
The project began with screenwriter Joseph Michael Straczynski, who first learned the story in 1983 while working as a special correspondent for a television magazine. He kept researching it for years before feeling ready to write it; the script, completed in 2006, draws on thousands of pages of documentation. Ron Howard was originally set to direct, but scheduling conflicts led to Clint Eastwood taking over, and he also produced the film and composed its score. Eastwood chose Angelina Jolie partly because, as the story goes, her face suited the period. Shooting began in October 2007 in Los Angeles and other parts of southern California, with a calm set and short working days. Post-production added computer-generated backgrounds, vehicles and extras. Universal Pictures financed and distributed the film.
Reception and legacy
Changeling premiered in the official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where Eastwood received a special anniversary prize shared with Catherine Deneuve. It opened in the United States on October 24, 2008, and in Spain on December 19 of that year. Critical response was more mixed than at Cannes: the acting and story were praised, but critics pointed to conventional staging and a lack of nuance. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, and the National Board of Review named it one of the ten best films of the year. Jolie was the most decorated figure, with nominations at the major acting awards.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
A long road to the script
Straczynski first encountered the case in 1983 and waited more than two decades before feeling ready to write it. The final script draws on thousands of pages of documents.
A change of director
Ron Howard was originally set to direct, but scheduling conflicts led to Eastwood taking over the film.
More films by Clint Eastwood
Million Dollar Baby
Unforgiven
Mystic River
American Sniper
Letters from Iwo Jima
Gran TorinoOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.