Eastwood plays down Oscar rivalry with Scorsese

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-02-12 11:21

BERLIN - Hollywood veteran Clint Eastwood said on Sunday his Oscar rival Martin Scorsese had a good chance of finally winning a statuette in two weeks' time, but warned against narrowing the field to a two-horse race.

The 76-year-old, in Berlin for the European premiere of his film "Letters From Iwo Jima", walked away with the best director Oscar two years ago for "Million Dollar Baby", leaving seven-time nominee Scorsese empty-handed once again.

This year Eastwood is on the shortlist again for World War Two drama "Letters From Iwo Jima" while Scorsese has been nominated for "The Departed".

Rounding off the best director category for the February 25 ceremony are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel"), Stephen Frears ("The Queen") and Paul Greengrass ("United 93").

"He (Scorsese) probably has a good chance, there is a lot of sympathy for him, but I have no control over any of that," Eastwood told Reuters, when asked about the Oscars this year.

"I always feel sorry ... for the others, because there are other nominees and they've worked very hard on their projects, too. I don't think any two people should be singled out."

Scorsese, the creator of classics including "Raging Bull" and "Good Fellas" is widely considered to be one of the greatest living film makers.