肮脏的哈里

（唐·西格尔）在20世纪50年代和60年代曾涉足各种类型电影，但都没有引起多少注意，直到他在一系列电影中，将克林特·伊斯特伍德的形象从莱昂内影片里孤独的枪手转变为《辣手神探夺命枪》中的无赖警察，西格尔才为自己找到合适的环境……

伊斯特伍德第一次作为哈里·卡拉汉的形象出现，这个特立独行的警察单枪匹马，对抗不断升高的街头犯罪浪潮和好心办坏事的自由主义者。在接下来十七年中，他拍了四部“辣手神探”续集，最后一部是1988年的《赌彩黑名单》 ……

尽管出现标题前的谋杀案的配乐乐节非常刺耳，而且突出了一些不寻常的音色，包括一些电子音乐和一个女人的声音，但这段音乐却是在蛇皮鼓和踏板打击乐器上敲出的爵士乐节奏，偶尔被锯琴的声音打断。在这部配乐的其他地方，摇摆乐的低音和弦更增添了音乐的爵士乐风格；而其他的音响，例如演奏者一边吹奏长笛一边弄出嘈杂音的做法，既可视为比博普爵士乐，也可视为先锋派古典乐。西夫林在该片以及其他影片的配乐中创造出爵士乐和古典乐风格的融合，电影配乐为他提供了创造这种风格的机会和自由。（杰弗里·诺维尔-史密斯《世界电影史》）

Watching the 1971 cop thriller Dirty Harry at a time when feminism and anti-racism become increasingly mainstream is indeed a nerve-racking experience. Directed by the earlier B-movie director Don Siegel, the 102-minute film, which portrays the cat-and-mouse-chase of a San Francisco police detective and a serial killer, is almost an explicit celebration of police brutality and male dominance. Although wildly politically incorrect, it is hard to ignore the movie’s immediate box office success and continued popularity.

"Do you feel lucky, punk? "

As the first instalment of the Dirty Harry series, Dirty Harry successfully introduces the main protagonist, the ‘dirty’ cop Harry Callahan, to the audience. The character is played by Clint Eastwood, who enjoys the star image of a cynical, virile, and powerful ‘man’s man’. As is expected, Callahan is almost a caricature of this iconic screen persona of Eastwood. He follows his own code of honour, and is hardly bound by any rules or social traditions. More importantly, he is always prepared to take any measures against the criminals, including torture, abuse and other forms of violence, to protect the citizens in San Francisco. As extreme as these measures seem, they are very much justified, and even encouraged in Dirty Harry, especially as the film uses an extremely perverted, evil and one-dimensional villain and an outrageously ineffective government system, in sharp contrast with Callahan’s toughness. The character’s roguish charm is even more strengthened as the film uses a nearly five-minute shot of the police officer peeping into the houses of innocent people, purely out of voyeuristic pleasure. Lalo Schifrin’s jazz score further adds to the dangerous and exotic atmosphere, giving the film a near-pornographic texture. These disturbing acts of extreme violence and female gaze are, however, normalised in the movie, and displayed as a celebration of masculinity.

The Dirty Harry Series

Dirty Harry reflects the general sentiments experienced by most conservative Americans in the 1970s. They are deeply frustrated by the liberalist movements in the 1960s, and hopes to return to traditional American values, with an unbending, strong-willed, and hyper-masculine ‘American’ hero standing up to fight against the hippy culture, corruption and moral decadence and to uphold established gender roles. These thoughts continue to stay central to the conservative political rhetoric in America even until nowadays, and form an inseparable part of the American culture, despite the growing popularity of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements in the country.

There are often discussions on the internet arguing that Dirty Harry should be ‘cancelled’ due to its right-wing tendencies (Delingpole, 2020). However, from my perspective, it is definitely a film worth to revisit, especially for people with liberal views like me, as it could potentially help us jump out of our comfort zones and try to understand how conservative politics works in the 1970s and even nowadays. At the very least, it demonstrates to us why pushing forward filmmaking that intentionally challenges the patriarchal privilege in society is still, and will continue to be important.

Works Cited

Delingpole, J. (2020, June 16). 7 problematic films that are yet to be cancelled. Spectator Life. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from //www.spectator.co.uk/article/7-problematic-films-that-are-yet-to-be-cancelled

Street, J. (2016). Dirty Harry's America: Clint Eastwood, Harry Callahan, and the Conservative Backlash. University Press of Florida.