Gran Torino

Gran Torino (2009), Warner Bros   Cert:15


Dir. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Geraldine Hughes.


Widowed Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is a man whom his extreme racial views are born from his experiences of the Korean War. The world around him is changing. His neighbourhood is now a melting pot of cultures, in particular the Hmong residents to which Walt has a particular distaste. He holds dear however his 1972 Gran Torino, and it is his precious car that his young and innocent Hmong neighbour Thoa (Vang) is sent to steal by his vicious ringleader cousin as part of his initiation into the gang. Thoa is unsuccessful and is punished by doing a stint manual labour for Walt. Thoa is put through his paces and over time Walt and his Hmong neighbours grow close. Thoa though is persistently hounded by the gang, and things begin to spiral out of control as the whole family becomes a target. Walt takes matters into his own hands, confronting the gang on their own patch. The closing scenes are the most poignant in displaying Walt’s “get off my lawn” mentality, simply because he defends the “lawn” of those he once hated.


Gran Torino sees Eastwood at his finest, with Walt echoing the gruff voice and strong presence of the emblematic “Dirty Harry”. Although accompanied by a poor supporting cast in terms of screen presence this is somehow forgotten as Eastwood, star and director, tackles the huge problem of racial attitudes with simple story telling. It isn’t however explicitly about race, but instead an elderly man coping with a changing world. The story then changes gear to something more than Walt the racist and intolerant old man but instead a story about respect and acceptance. It is simply a perfectly told story that is thought provoking and realistic; showing exactly why Clint Eastwood to this day dominates both on and off screen.