Rich Schmitt/ZumaPress.comClint Eastwood and Spike Lee are bickering, and we’d suggest the directors take the high road, but they might just use it to get a better shot at each other.
To catch up: At the Cannes Film Festival last month, Lee said if reporters "had any balls" they'd ask Eastwood why he didn’t include any blacks in his films based on the battle of Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Aside from suggesting that Cannes reporters are eunuchs, Lee was also promoting his own war film, Miracle at St. Anna.
Eastwood responded that he was being historically accurate about the makeup of the soldiers who raised the flag on the island, and added that "a guy like him should shut his face." Sounding stung by Lee's criticism, Eastwood, whose next film The Human Factor is about South African rugby and Nelson Mandela, also added, "Yeah, I'm not going to make Nelson Mandela a white guy."
Lee’s latest salvo was a mixture of sugar—saying Eastwood is "a great director"—and spice—saying Eastwood sounds like "an angry old man." Despite adding that "we're not on a plantation," Lee announced he was going to end the feud with "peace and love."
Cool. So does this mean he’s going to apologize to the Cannes reporters, too? They're a pretty sensitive bunch.
In any case, what do you think? Is Spike right? Or Clint? Or should they both get back to making movies and stop insulting each other?