Gran Torino (2008)

Directed by: Clint Eastwood | 116 minutes | drama, crime | Actors: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Brian Haley, Geraldine Hughes, Dreama Walker, Brian Howe, John Carroll Lynch, William Hill, Brooke Chia Thao, Chee Thao, Choua Kue, Scott Eastwood, Xia Soua Chang, Sonny Vue, Doua Moua, Greg Trzaskoma, John Johns, Davis Gloff, Thomas D. Mahard, Cory Hardrict, Nana Gbewonyo, Arthur Cartwright, Austin Douglas Smith, Conor Liam Callaghan, Michael E. Kurowski, Julia Ho, Maykao K. Lytongpao, Carlos Guadarrama, Vincent Bonasso, William C. Fox

Detroit isn’t what it used to be. The neighborhoods that once belonged to the white elite are overrun by immigrants. Aggressive gangs of Latinos and Asians fight each other in front of helpless civilians, who find it difficult to look the other way. Yet they do it, afraid as they are of putting themselves in danger. If you look at it that way, it’s not so strange that Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) growls and grumbles all day long. The Korea veteran sees his neighborhood deteriorating faster by the day. Since his wife died, there is little left for him to enjoy in life. His two sons hardly interfere with him and prefer to see him move into a retirement home as soon as possible. But Walt is still far too brisk and active. It is painful to see how much father and sons live apart from each other. Still, grumpy old Walt still finds purpose in the final years of his life. And that goal comes from an unexpected source.

‘Gran Torino’ examines the differences between cultures in a metropolis like Detroit. Walt doesn’t like his new Asian neighbors at first. Especially not when their 16-year-old son tries to steal his 1972 Ford Gran Torino one night. With a loaded gun, he chases the lad away. The next day he is showered with gifts from the Asian community. They see petulant Walt as the man who rescued young Tao (Bee Vang) from the clutches of a gang. Stealing the Gran Torino had been forced upon him, as a kind of admission ritual. But Tao doesn’t want to be part of the aggressive group at all. Walt doesn’t understand why his neighbors are all of a sudden interfering with him, until he strikes up a conversation with Tao’s funny and intelligent sister Sue (Ahney Her), who knows how to play him the right way. She suggests having Tao do chores for Walt as a kind of penance. The old man agrees after some resistance. He hopes to turn what he calls a “sissy” into a real man. In addition, he realizes that as long as the gangs are around, Tao’s future is very uncertain.

In ‘Gran Torino’ the old formula, in which two people who are completely different in character as well as in age become friends, is once again taken from the attic. Walt teaches young Tao valuable life lessons, while Tao in turn causes the cranky and prejudiced old misanthrope to open his heart. Ultimately, this film is about overcoming bias, although Eastwood – who acts and directs – puts it on top of it all. Walt’s transformation goes very quickly and actually with little reason. Then in ‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004) – in which Eastwood plays a similar role as Frankie Dunn – it went a lot more subtle and therefore more effective and credible. Walt Kowalski is a lot less complex than Frankie Dunn and more like Dirty Harry – the tough and hard-core loner who at times gets so mean it’s almost parody. A good example of this is that Walt literally growls and grunts when someone does something that he does not appreciate. His two young Asian counterparts are a pleasant discovery: the lively Ahney Her in particular gives every scene she is in extra shine, including when she wittily counters Walt’s racist remarks during a party at her home.

Although ‘Gran Torino’ explains his story in an old-fashioned and not very subtle way, it works. Part of that has to do with the ending, which shows that writers Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson took extra care not to let the story go out like a candle. It also cleverly responds to the emotions of the viewers. The themes of life and death are mentioned more than once. Again, the comparison with ‘Million Dollar Baby’ – which, like ‘Gran Torino’ contains a number of crucial interactions between Eastwood’s character and a priest – is never far off. Although this film is not very subtle and far from innovative, it still touches you. Whether it’s due to Eastwood – who certainly doesn’t give his best performance but still manages to captivate you from the first to the last minute – or the fact that the filmmakers manage to strike the right chord, albeit in a particularly uncontrolled way, the question. Be that as it may, the appreciation for ‘Gran Torino’ seems to come not so much from the mind, but mainly from the heart.