Changeling is a 2008 American period thriller directed by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski. The film begins in 1928 Los Angeles and tells the true story of a woman who recognizes that the boy returned to her after a kidnapping is not her son. After confronting the city authorities, she is vilified as an unfit mother and branded delusional. The events were related to the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, an infamous kidnapping and murder case that was uncovered in 1928. Changeling explores themes such as disempowerment of women, corruption in political hierarchies, and the impact that violent crime has on communities. The film was made by Imagine Entertainment and Malpaso Productions for Universal Pictures. Ron Howard was originally slated to direct, but scheduling conflicts and Universal's desire to fast track the project led to his replacement by Eastwood. Howard and Imagine partner Brian Grazer remained as producers, alongside Malpaso's Robert Lorenz and Eastwood. After being tipped off to the real life case by a contact at Los Angeles City Hall, Straczynski, a veteran television writer and producer, spent a year researching it through archived city records. He wrote the script in eleven days. The shooting script was not changed from Straczynski's first draft, and was his first produced film screenplay. He attempted to stick closely to the facts of the case, and drew 95% of the script from articles, testimony, transcripts and correspondence from the period. Straczynski placed newspaper clippings into copies of the script to remind people it was a true story. Principal photography began on October 15, 2007 and was completed in November 2007. Filming took place in and around Los Angeles. Suburban areas of San Dimas, San Bernardino and Pasadena doubled for 1920s Los Angeles, and visual effects were used to supplement these exterior shots with skylines and backdrops. Filming also took place at surviving 1920s buildings, such as Los Angeles City Hall. Eastwood's noted economical directing style extended to Changeling's shoot: actors and members of the crew remarked upon the calmness of the set and the short working days.
Several high-profile actors were interested in the lead role before Angelina Jolie was cast. Eastwood cast her partly because he felt her face fit the period setting. The film also features Jeffrey Donovan, John Malkovich, Jason Butler Harner, Amy Ryan, Michael Kelly, Geoff Pierson, and Colm Feore. Most of the characters were based on their real life counterparts, while some were composites based on people and the types of people who lived in the period. Changeling premiered in competition at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2008 and was met with critical acclaim, prompting speculation it could win the Palme d'Or. The award ultimately went to Entre les murs ("The Class"). Changeling had its North American premiere on October 4, 2008 as the centerpiece of the 46th New York Film Festival, and was released wide in North American theaters on October 31, 2008 after a limited release that began on October 24, 2008. It will be released in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on November 28, 2008. Its theatrical release was met with a more mixed critical response than at Cannes. Reviews were generally favorable: the acting and storyline were largely praised, with criticism focusing on the film's conventional presentation and a lack of nuance.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer : J. Michael Straczynski
Release Date: 31 October 2008 (USA)
Genre: Biography | Crime | Drama | Mystery
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Michael Kelly, Colm Feore, Jason Butler Harner, Amy Ryan.A true story that is as incredible as it is compelling, "Changeling" brushes away the romantic notion of a more innocent time to reveal a Los Angeles circa 1928 awash in corruption and steeped in a culture that treats women as hysterical and unreliable beings when they challenge male wisdom.
Jolie puts on a powerful emotional display as a tenacious woman who gathers strength from the forces that oppose her. She reminds us that there is nothing so fierce as a mother protecting her cub.
In March 1928, Christine Collins' nine-year-old son Walter vanishes. Five months later, the LAPD, already under the gun for other unsolved crimes, calls out the press and delivers to Christine a boy who claims to be her son but is not. To avoid embarrassment, Captain Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) demands she take the boy home on a "trial basis." When she continues to insist that the LAPD needs to find her real son, Jones does what the department always does with troublesome citizens -- he locks her up in a psycho ward.
A radio minister, Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), takes up her cause and challenges the police version of events. Meanwhile, another officer, Detective Ybarra (Michael Kelly), launches an investigation into a potential serial killer (Jason Butler Harner) that not only proves Christine's contention but exposes the force, its chief and the mayor to the wrath of a citizenry fed up with living in a police state.
This story, uncovered by screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski in the city's own records and newspapers, adds a forgotten chapter to the L.A. noir of "Chinatown" and "Hollywood Confidential." Christine's utter intransigence and true-seeking in the face of absolute corruption does what no newspaper in that city is willing to do -- challenge the official stories of City Hall.
Sticking fairly closely to the facts, the movie necessarily drags us through a couple of courtrooms that cause the drama to sag momentarily. But Straczynski and Eastwood are good at cutting to the chase. Seldom does a 141-minute movie feel this short.
Jolie completely shuns her movie star image to play a woman whose confidence in everything she thinks she knows is shaken to its very core. She can appear vulnerable and steadfast in the same moment. This woman has a depth she herself has never explored.
Save for another incarcerated police victim played by the fabulous Amy Ryan, most other roles tend toward righteousness or badness without too many shades in between.
The movie draws considerable strength from Eastwood's own melodic score that evokes not only a period but also the mood of a city and even a country nervously undergoing galvanic changes. The small-town feel to the street and sets, seeming oh-so-quaint to modern eyes, captures a society resistant to seeing what is really going.
So in "Changeling" Eastwood continues to probe uncomfortable subjects to depict the individual and even existential struggle to do what is right. Christine sees no other option. And in pursuing the truth, she forces a city to take a stand and demand accountably from its politicians and police. Her boy has been changed under her horror-stricken nose. But then again, so has she.
DOWNLOAD WALLPAPER............
DOWNLOAD TORRENTS...............
