Gran Torino

eastwood, Clint. Gran Torino. United States. Warner Bros. 2008. 116 min.

                Gran Torino is a film directed, produced and played by Clint Eastwood. In his 57 years of professional career he has directed and starred in plenty films. However, in the last fifteen years he has focused in directing. Proof of this is the fact that since 1997 he has directed 14 films and has just starred in 7. Among all this productions we find box-office hits such as Mystic River (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Changeling (2008). It is important to point out that although he’s known for starring in crime thriller films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) or Dirty Harry (1971) he tends to direct drama films.

                Clint Eastwood plays the lead role in this film. He is Walt Kowalski, a gruff retired and Korean War veteran old man which wife has already passed away. He lives alone with his dog. Besides the isolation he feels is the emotional detachment of his sons and daughters. 

The neighborhood where he lives in Detroit, used to be populated by working-class white families, but now it is dominated by poor Asian immigrants and violence. The Hmong Von Lor family resides next door. Walt wants nothing to do with them but one day he catches Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang), a young boy of the family, attempting to steal his Gran Torino in order to be a member of a Hmong gang run by his cousin "Spider." As a punishment, Thao’s mother makes him work for Walt, who accepts and makes him do jobs around the neighborhood. Walt also has a good relationship with Thao’s sister Sue (Ahney Her) who invites him to a great Hmong dinner.

Walt begins to feel affection for the family and this is the beginning of a beautiful touching story. He begins to look after Thao and his sister. He teaches Thao a job and also helps him to get one.  He gives him advice on dating too. However the Hmong gang continues to pressure and Walt decides to take measures to remedy the situation.

                Apart from the drama, the film has a light tone of humor particularly in Walt’s contact with Asian culture. For example, he insists to refer to Thao with the name of Toad. He also calls Yum Yum a Hmong girl which real name is Youa.

                Gran Torino is a film with a strong psychological impact. This film teaches us that behind a gruff bad-tempered man hides a man who has had a difficult life and who opens his heart to the people that worth it.

                Even though I don’t consider myself a big fan of Clint Eastwood, I highly recommend this film. I must admit that the first time I saw it my hairs stood on the end. Nevertheless if you are a very sensitive person, I wouldn’t recommend you watching this film. However if you decide to watch it, don’t forget take some tissue.