Of love and resolve. Review on Changeling Movie

Director: Clint Eastwood

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Year: 2008

Runtime: 141 minutes

Verdict: 7/10

It’s not fiction or cliché when you hear about Mother’s love time and again. There are several real stories to back the widespread notion of a mother’s love and care towards her child. There are times when these feelings are well understood and still felt as another part of the universe around us, and then there are times when such emotions come out of the depth of understanding and present themselves yet again, fresh as new, sharp as a needle. When you read the ‘based on true story’ tags on such, your heart skips a beat, yet reassuring itself about a blanket which never fades.

Changeling is such a story of love and affection of a mother; her perseverance and unwavering resolve.  The movie is based on the Wineville Chicken Coop murders in 1928. The fact that this movie is based on a true story makes you wonder how dramatic and tragic real life can be. This is a story of a certain Christine Collins. Her boy is kidnapped on an otherwise would be a lovely weekend. She takes the matter to the LA police. To her momentary respite she gets the boy back, or so the police think. Just when her son is given back to her, she accuses the child of being an imposter. The police refuse to accept their mistake and then a fight starts. Despite of the pain of loss of her child, she continues to haunt the police, using every tool at her disposal including the media.

For once it is easy to accept this as a good fiction, but when I tried to search online about it, it became evident that real life can really be as dramatic as it can be. 1928 was a bad time for LA police department as well. Their success rate was going down, and with the unwanted arrival of a new chief of police the matters could not be worse. The police at that time made a big media story when they found the lost child. When Collins announced publically about the police mishap(She came prepared with the proofs, different dental records, schoolteacher’s statement) the matters became even worse for the police.

I am not fond of Angelina Jolie. Apart from Tomb Raider I can’t think of many other movies which I have watched and liked. I was a little sceptical when I realised she is the lead and everyone else is in supporting role. For such a script she deserved complete attention. It is kind of a problem with well-established actors. As the aura of stardom increases it becomes harder and harder for the actor to be distinct from his true identity and seamlessly fuse with the character of the film. I must say Angelina portrays the psyche of Christine Collins precisely. Initially it feels hard to accept the glamorous diva as a helpless single mom, but soon she warms up and blends nicely with Mrs Collins.

Till writing this blog, I didn’t know that the movie was directed by Clint Eastwood. When I came to know that explained many aspects of the film. For once, the sheer attitude and firmness of the characters can come only from such a director. There are no moments of dilemma, no moments of confusion, everything is as clear as daylight. Every character is partially right in their shoes, and confident about their righteousness. He is one of my favourite directors recently; his ability to handle drama without a shed of tear is supreme.

It’d have been more apt if I would have been able to publish this yesterday, what better remembrance of Mother’s day than to recollect the motherly grace and glory with such a film? This is not an emotional melodrama; you won’t expect that from Eastwood anyway. This is more of a heroic tale of justice being served, a tale bringing up sad reality of life through a motion picture, a non-fiction salute to the motherly love and tenacity.