One of the best films of 2008

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2009)

Eastwood's "Changeling" tells the true story of a kind and strong woman struggling against the paternalistic and allegedly corrupt male establishment of the Los Angeles Police Department and a mental hospital in the nineteen-twenties and -thirties. The contrast between the good and the bad is black and white, but the tale is told in a matter-of-fact way, and so the feminism of the film resides in the bleak whole and there are no preachy moments.
Beyond the likely fact that Christine is being treated more paternalistically by the authorities than a man would be in a comparable situation, there are some universal reminders of the frustration, disbelief, and pain that can be caused by people having power over you: a doctor who interprets your every word as a sign of a possible mental-health problem, twisting your words if necessary (and who can still keep his job in the end); and a policeman who condemns your behaviour in a noble language of 'responsibility' and the like, which corresponds no doubt to public stereotypes and certain typical cases, but which is simply wrong and hypocritical in your case.
Angelina Jolie was good in "A Mighty Heart" (2007) and is Oscar-nominated here. At the time of writing, she suffers a bit from a similar celebrity stigma that has long attached to Tom Cruise: when Jolie appears on the screen, the viewer sees Angelina Jolie, not a character in a film. That this impression lasts no longer than five minutes here is a sign of a very good actress and film. And Jolie's face does look awfully attractive, as her pale cheeks, red lips, and eyes half-covered under a twenties style hat stand out amidst the muted colours of this beautiful film.
Still, half an hour of its two-hour-plus running time could easily have been cut from here and there.