Why is Clint Eastwood so popular with French critics?

First, let me say that I have no beef with Clint Eastwood. I like many of his movies from all eras of his career and have fond memories of watching his Westerns with my dad. I also think he's a good director. This is not an attack on Clint Eastwood.I was looking up the César Awards recently and was surprised to see that not only has Eastwood been nominated for the Best Foreign Film César six times, but he won for three of those movies (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino). And I get it, I like those movies too, Mystic River especially, but of all the non-French movies released those years, Eastwood's were the best? Gran Torino???The Césars aren't even the weirdest part to me. For those who are unaware, the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma was instrumental in the formation of auteur theory, and young critics for the magazine such as François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were among those who rejected the canon of lauded, classical French films and supported filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Orson Welles and more as masters of the form whose artistry exceeded the limitations of the Hollywood system. Truffaut and Godard would go on to be important directors in the French New Wave movement. From what I can tell, the magazine has a heady, serious, respected reputation (though it is possible that's changed in recent history).For reference, Cahiers du cinéma began publishing in 1951.Like most film publications, Cahiers releases a list of the ten best films of the year. The director with the most films on those lists is Jean-Luc Godard, with twenty-six. Second is Ingmar Bergman, with fourteen. Tied for third, with a staggering twelve films among the best of their given year, is Clint Eastwood. For a bit of perspective here, Scorsese has made the list nine times, and Kurosawa, Kubrick, and Spielberg are tied, all making the list just three times each. Remember, this magazine first published in 1951, so it's not like they started halfway through some of these careers.The Mule was number eight on the 2019 list. The Mule! The eighth best movie of 2019???Somebody, please help me. I like Clint Eastwood a lot. I think he's a wonderful director. I don't mean to disparage him at all. I just need to know why he seems so uniquely anointed by the French film community. Of all the American directors who have worked over the past several decades, what is it about Eastwood in particular that drives the French wild?TL;DR The French love Clint Eastwood, mais pourquoi? via /r/movies https://ift.tt/3nU2AZ6