I first saw Dirty Harry when I was like 12 years old while staying with one of my parent's friend from college in Kansas City. I was watching it alone at like midnight and thought I was a real bad ass not only because I was staying up when everyone else was asleep, but also because I was watching one of my first R-rated movies -- strictly forbidden in the Boeding house at my age. I was about 2 feet away from the screen -- I needed the sound on damn near mute to keep people from waking up -- and didn't really capture what I was watching.
In fact, I remember it terrifying me. That's not necessarily the point of the movie, but a psycho murderer running around the city executing civilians via sniper is a very frightening thing for a 12 year old to take on. I'm pretty sure I was also just coming out of the phase where I stopped being scared of Jurassic Park, so Dirty Harry would have been a big leap for me.
With the coming of the month of July also came the addition of Clint Eastwood's influential version of a hard-nosed detective to HBO's movie selection. Thus, I finally got the opportunity to watch the dark crime film that enthralled me as a pre-teen.
It's the movie that brought you the line,
"I know what you're thinking, punk. 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk"
It's the movie that was one of the first to depict such a sadistically, psychotic killer -- having been based off the real life Zodiac killer. It's the movie that arguably cemented Eastwood as the bad-ass anti hero who wields a pistol with the precision of a surgeon. Probably, most importantly, it's the movie that brought you the blunt, loose cannon cop who takes what appear to be unnecessary risks -- like basically playing Russian Roulette with other people -- that would come to influence the likes of Bruce Willis' John McClane and Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs.
Stay with me, people of my generation. I understand that this movie was made in 1971 and is thus considered...like...really old. Just because it has that distinctive look and feel of the 1970s -- when a fifth Seagrams was apparently 5.69, what a time!!-- does not mean that it doesn't have the same attributes of movies that you see now-a-days or doesn't play well in modern times.
In fact, its the distinct style and look of the film that is one of its most appealing qualities. Taking place in San Francisco, at a time where urban crime was a problem in real life, the film captures a city among dark days. Nevertheless, on any screen, the sprawling shots of the San Francisco city-scape are beautiful and give you a context of how expansive the area that the police are having to comb through to find one man really is. All shot in Technicolor, every bright red of blood or cool blue of the cars or popping yellow of buildings jumps off the screen at you and looks like a picturesque painting of the city and its inhabitants.
This beauty, however, is in direct contrast to the action taking place on the screen. We are shown staring down the scope of the sniper at the potential victims. Often given extreme close ups not of just the killer, but also of what he is seeing, places us in this subjective point of view that forces us into considering the prospect of how one actually goes through killing someone. When we are in first-person point of view, we feel as if we are in the killers body and wonder what must be going through his mind and body to be going through that as we are being put figuratively into his shoes. It's unnerving and was something that psychologically effects the way you watch the movie.
The killer isn't the only one who is blurring the moral lines, however. Throughout the entire film, there is a conversation being had that is discussing just why they call Homicide Inspector Harry Callahan, "Dirty Harry". At points, it is said that he gained this moniker because he is the only cop that is willing to do what needs to be done. This is the obvious and easy reason -- especially watching it in our age with speculation over cops constantly -- for him to be called "dirty" but we learn that it's not necessarily truly correct
He's "Dirty Harry" because, yes, he's blunt and aggressive. He's unorthodox and toes the line a lot -- basically the whole movie. Yet, he's also dirty because he's the only one willing to do what no one else will step up to do. In times when someone needs to put their life on the line, he's the only one willing to jump down from the safety of the police station and get his hands in the dirt to catch the bad guy.
This balance is what influenced movies to come and gave Dirty Harry its legacy. Before, there were detectives who played hard ball and couldn't necessarily be considered "straight cops". But there were rarely, if ever, cop characters who toed the line so effectively between being brash and unhinged, while remaining true to the focus of the case. Hard-boiled detectives of old would play dirty, but they were often self-serving and in the end would choose themselves over others. Harry, on the other hand, may be dirty, but he's dirty because he's there to protect people. If no one else is going to do what it takes to help the people of his city, then he will.
Within the first couple of scenes of Dirty Harry your not entirely sure if the film is going to have the same pitfalls as films like Breakfast at Tiffanys, where there is a contextual racism that was looked over at the time. But then you realize that Harry doesn't care about people's background, race, ethnicity, etc. and at one point they even verbally mention this as one of his co-workers says that it doesn't matter because he "doesn't play favorites. Harry hates everybody". This narrative fits well in our modern society where everyone is vying for equality. While they may say its out of hatred, everyone is still equal in Harry's eyes and he's going to protect you all the same. His job is to get things done and to protect the city, not make judgements about people.
And there is no doubt that Harry is the kind of cop that gets shit done. It's this mentality and his overall depth that played into the roles of a character like John McClane who is the only one willing to go into the Nakatomi building and definitely cross the line to save the lives of many. Eastwood took detectives to a whole other level that changed how people looked at cops and how cops were played. Harry is the kind of detective we would all imagine ourselves as, except, he's the one who actually does the things we just picture in our heads.
Not surprisingly, I didn't grasp any of this until I watched it far after my first viewing. Which is why it's great that it's available for us once again on a platform that is easily accessible and popular. Make your day.
For more articles of mine follow https://medium.com/@benboeding
A version of this post originally appeared on Medium.