Chirac Awards Top French Honors to Clint Eastwood

On Saturday, President Jacques Chirac awarded the Legion d'Honneur order to actor and director Clint Eastwood, calling his latest films lessons in humanity. "At this side of the Atlantic ... you embody the best of Hollywood. In France, your films move millions of viewers because they are strong without being simplistic, lucid without being cynical," he told the 76-year-old director in a ceremony at the Elysee Palace.

The Legion of Honor is France's highest order and has five classes. Eastwood was awarded the lowest rank, which is that of knight. Napoleon Bonaparte first awarded the order in 1804. French President Chirac said of Eastwood's latest films "Flags of our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" showed the impasse that can follow from the blind use of force. "This warning, which is a good lesson in humanity, evokes a special echo in our conscience," Chirac said. He went onto wish success for "Letters from Iwo Jima," which will be released in France next week.

The Eastwood film, "Flags of our Fathers," told the American side of the 1945 Pacific Island battle, in which more than 20,000 Japanese and nearly 7,000 Americans died. "Flags of Our Fathers" contains a scene in which American soldiers explore an island cave and come upon Japanese who are torn apart. While Eastwood is being praised for "Flags of Our Fathers", the director has brought forth the also acclaimed "Letters from Iwo Jima."

The companion to the first film, "Letters from Iwo Jima," an Academy Award nominee as best picture, takes the reversed point of view to the story of the famous World War II battle for a Japanese island. It tells the 1945 tale from the Japanese point of view. It is mostly in the Japanese language, and translated with English subtitles. The film reaches epic proportions and Eastwood pulls off quite an epic.