Clint Eastwood: Gran Torino (2008)

[Chris Knipp]

Clint Eastwood: Gran Torino (2008)

Up from machismo: at 78, Clint's still kickin' ass

Well-seasoned filmmakers are no rarity these days. The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira is still working at 100. Though a mere 78, Clint may be the most prolific and the feistiest of the senior helmers. The last six years have been an Eastwoodian renaissance. His relatively perfunctory Blood Work was followed by an outstanding quartet: Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters of Iwo Jima. And now in one year, Changeling and Gran Torino.

In the latter, written by newcomers Dave Johansson and Nick Schenk, Clint not only directs but stars as curmudgeonly senior citizen Walt Kowalski--who emerges as a culturally sensitized but still confrontational Dirty Harry. Walt is a retired auto worker who presides disapprovingly over his wife's funeral as the film opens. He's not impressed by the young priest. He has no use for his smug sons or his greedy, piercing-adorned, disrespectful granddaughter, whom the camera catches text-messaging during the priest's funeral oration. Walt ushers one son and daughter-in-law out of the house on his birthday, with the presents they have brought, when they suggest he consider moving to a retirement community. All the Polish and Irish people have moved out of the Detroit neighborhood where Walt has long lived. Now his neighbors are Hmong people he sniffs at and addresses indiscriminately as "slope" or "nip" or "chink."

Walt never drops the epithets. He considers them an essential aspect of manly banter and enjoys tossing them back and forth with his barber and a construction boss friend. But any implied racism melts away when members of a Hmong gang begin to harass his young neighbor Thao (Bee Vang) and force Thao to attempt the theft of Walt's vintage Gran Torino automobile as part of his initiation. Walt, a decorated Korean War vet, confronts Thao with a rifle and saves his car. But later he drives away the gang at gunpoint to protect Thao from its harassing him further.

These two events have a whole string of consequences. Henceforth the gang has it in for both Thao and Walt. Thao's family showers Walt with ritual offerings of food and flowers. Walt is now seen as a neighborhood friend and protector of the Hmong. Thao's bolder and more outspoken sister Sue (Bee Vang) latches onto Walt too. Walt learns to love Hmong cooking and discovers he has more in common with his "slope" neighbors than with his own sons. Thao, who is fatherless, is commanded by his mother to work for Walt to compensate for the attempted theft, and a mentoring and bonding process begins.

In Gran Torino Clint gets to play a reformed bigot, mentor, and senior citizen Dirty Harry all in one person. He speaks in a hoarse whisper that can modulate from a mild roar to a purr to a bark. Maybe this movie serves as a kind of apologia and justification for the simplicities of the Dirty Harry series. It adds complexities and nuances, but then it undercuts them by still bringing out the guns and resolving issues in violent confrontations.

The man is truly remarkable. The movie is unusual in its combination of racist slurs, decency, and revenge. But in all accuracy the solution Walt finds is not revenge but a sacrificial correction that insures his neighbors' future. Still, if Walt Kowalski's behavior is taken literally he'll hardly come off as a good role model for anyone. The movie deserves credit for pointing to the problem of Asian (and specifically Hmong) gangs. Among the Hmong, Sue says, "the girls go to college, the boys go to jail." Gran Torino was shot in a few weeks. The Hmong cast is authentic, but not all are great actors. The ending is something out of the Westerns, with a new twist. Much of the move is like an instructional film on multi-ethnic understanding and family relations. It's good hearted but simplistic and not ultra polished, despite the pros in the crew and at the helm.

There is a secondary theme involving the young priest who presides at the funeral of Walt's wife. He's called Father Janovich, for some reason, though he's played by the very Irish-looking Christopher Carley. Walt tells him to his face he has no use for him. He tells him he's a "kid," "fresh out of the seminary," an "overeducated, 27-year-old virgin who holds the hands of superstitious old ladies and promises them eternity." As far as Walt can see this kid knows nothing about birth and death. By film's end the boyish clergyman and Walt have come to terms and the younger man has learned something. As time goes on Walt is clearly ill, yet he continues his hard drinking and his cigarette smoking. His life isn't very happy. Maybe that's why he's willing to go for broke in defense of his Hmong neighbors. The realities of his situation are something the simplistic screenplay, which resembles a TV program of pre-cable days, does not choose to delve into. But whatever its faults, Gran Torino has the same kind of strong, sterling simplicity the director displayed in Million Dollar Baby, which he also starred in as well as directed.

This is the year for the Hmong in America to get noticed, it seems. There is a detailed, rich documentary about a Laotian Hmong family and their life in the USA that came out a few months ago, Ellen Kurras' The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?p=1202). The impact of the gangs on Hmong families is shown there too. But there's no Clint to come to the rescue.

[oscar jubis]

I'll be brief and schematic. I think GRAND TORINO is a remarkable film because of:

1) The strightforward manner in which it confronts fear and hatred towards of those who are different than us. More specifically, the American variant of those sentiments.

2) Clint Eastwood's performance.

3) The way the role seems to be written specifically (but wasn't) so that Eastwood can deconstruct and critique ambivalently and ambiguously the star persona he built over four decades of film acting.

4) The organic, believably gradual manner in which Kowalski gets close to his Hmong neighbors.

5) The way Kowalski is used as an audience alter ego (or the way the audience is aligned with Kowalski's point of view whenever he approaches or enters his neighbors' house, to be more specific) in order to give us access to an ethnic culture.

6) The effect of Kowalski's final gesture on my emotions.

[Johann]

Gran Torino is absolutely Masterful.
Great story, beautiful camerawork, believable acting.
Clint Eastwood should get a Best Director Oscar for this.
What is wrong with the Academy Awards? Just because Clint has won recently, don't snub him for that. He just gave us one of the best films of all-time. Better than Million Dollar Baby in my opinion.
Some artists will keep surprising you...

Oscar's bang-on about how the relationship between "Wally" and his neighbors is gradual and believable. Loved this movie.
I love the language Walt uses (that is REAL language in America- the way some men actually talk when they have a background like his). His fearsomeness- Chris is right again: Clint kicks Major Ass here. Loved that line he gave to the "Slopes" or "Zipperheads"on his front lawn, rifle cocked and pointed:
I used to stack gooks like you like sandbags in Korea.

[Johann]

Chris, you've pretty much covered all of the items of interest in this movie. What else can be said about it?

If this was made in only a few weeks, then that is more proof that Clint deserves another Best Director Oscar. This is a completely professional artwork, with believable acting from Clint's Asian co-stars, who are very lucky they got to make a film with a Master filmmaker- I actually thought that maybe Clint is forging a future for these newcomers that will pay off for the future of cinema. We'll see...

That Gran Torino is a classic by the way. My favorite car of all-time. Yes, it's a Ford. So fucking what? The Starsky and Hutch paint job seals the deal for me. If I had the money, I'd own and drive an exact replica of that car.

The ending of this movie is what a movie ending should be (and Chris is right: very "Western with a twist"): exciting, powerful, symbolic and leaves you thinking about certain things.
Amazing movie from a Legend and further proof that Warner Brothers is the best film studio on the earth.

[Chris Knipp]

So don't you think Clint god a raw deal from the Academy this year? One wonders why. Bu I don't believe he's going to retire as an acttor. Why should he? His energy level seems to be high. I think he's very focused and clear, and that's how he can do it. Don't think I am on his wavelength politically, not going by when he was mayor of Carmel. I have never seen The Unforgiven and I must. I was interested to learn recently that the screenwriter (of Unforgiven) , David Webb People, also did the screenplay of Bladerunner, Ladyhawke, and Twelve Monkeys.

[Johann]

He definitely got a raw deal. (Unless he withdrew his name from nominations or something but I haven't heard anything about that).

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is supposed to be about EXCELLENCE. And that's what Gran Torino is.
Sheer excellence. It might just be the best film of the year.
I haven't seen all the great films put out yet, but this one is monumental to me.
I haven't stopped thinking about the movie since I saw it.
Something about it really got to me.
I think it was the ending.
The end was such a surprise and yet the story seemed to be leading up to it.
Clint Eastwood is some kind of monster, Man.
His acting in Gran Torino deserves a nomination too.
So does the cinematography.

Have you seen The Gauntlet?
That one rocks too. Clint is a Legend and cinephiles should be grateful for what he's accomplished in the medium.

If you haven't seen Gran Torino yet then what are you waiting for?

[oscar jubis]

The consolation is that GRAN TORINO will likely be seen by more people than any of the movies that received Oscar nominations. It's about to surpass the only one of those films that was really popular: BENJAMIN BUTTON.

[Chris Knipp]

I don't think Clint withdrew; he was promoting or being promoted for Oscar. Have not seen The Gauntlet.

Yes,Gran Tornio has done well at the box office. But this is hardly consolation or a proof of excellence. If the Academy is not being influenced too much by box office in Oscar awards, that's surely a good thing.
The Oscars, once a finish line for movies, have become a launching pad. [By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY (http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2008-02-21-oscar-box-office_N.htm) , 2,22,08] When I said Gran Torino is " good hearted but simplistic and not ultra polished," I was thinking chiefly of the Dick Shenk-Dave Johansson screenplay--which incidentally you can read online in toto. http://www.joblo.com/Gran%20Torino.htm
Clint gives it some depth with the force of his personality, and his perceived history for audience members.

[Johann]

This film is an instant classic in my opinion.
I've only seen it once but it's left a big impression on me.
It's a pretty basic story but there is so much depth to it.

Walt comes off as a real bigot/racist but the reality is he isn't racist at all. He's just who he is, trying to make sense of the America he's living in.

I think what I really admire about this film is the way in which Clint presents a character who has a deep-rooted past and how circumstances can change just like that, on a dime, and sometimes we make decisions that we would never in a million years think we'd make but do. Life is change, man. Even though a lot stays the same, change and chance and circumstance always fuck with you and who you are as a person is tested at all times.

[Johann]

And another real treat at the screening I went to was the trailers.
A brand-new kick-ass trailer for Watchmen and an insane trailer for Terminator-Salvation.

Plus, on another note, I have to say that if you are really passionate about something, get a tattoo of it.
I have a Batman tattoo that I got when I was 16 and it got me a Dark Knight IMAX poster from the manager at the Scotiabank Cineplex. Same with Superman Returns in 2006- Show your tat to the manager and it proves that you're not a scammer.
They're not really allowed to give the posters away. I've been turned down so many times and I understand that it is the property of the major studios and they deserve to have them back after promoting the films or destroyed.
But sometimes you gotta try for it man...
In the past I've landed a Saving Private Ryan banner, Quills, Dancer in the dark and many others just by asking.

Maybe I should schedule an appointment for a Rorshach or Comedian tattoo...

[Johann]

Clint Eastwood was honored in a private ceremony in Paris for Gran Torino yesterday.

Here's the press clip:

The Cannes Film Festival awarded the American movie icon a special Palm D'or for his latest film Gran Torino, which was released in France yesterday. Gran Torino had been snubbed by Academy Awards voters. The Palm was handed over to Eastwood by festival co-directors Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux, who have cultivated a special relationship with Eastwood as a filmmaker and actor. Cannes has premiered five of Eastwood's directorial efforts, including Changeling in 2008 . The Cannes citation for Gran Torino included a tribute to Eastwood's power as a filmmaker:
The passion he incites in film lovers is one of admiration and respect, a natural response to his elegance and legendary reserve.

[oscar jubis]

I'm glad Eastwood has received a degree of appreciation for Gran Torino; a film seen by more people than any of the movies that got nominated for Best Picture by the Academy. Thanks for your posts Johann.

[oscar jubis]

Gran Torino Within the Context of Eastwood's Persona
by Oscar Jubis



There was a rumor circulating in the internet when Gran Torino was in pre-production that Clint Eastwood had decided to make the 6th and final Dirty Harry installment. Eastwood is not Harry Callahan in Gran Torino but one can envision how the rumor sprouted. The legendary character could be easily interpolated into a premise about a taciturn, retired Korean veteran coming to the rescue of his besieged neighbors in inner-city Detroit. Moreover, it's practically impossible, at least for viewers of a certain age, to watch Eastwood in a protagonic role without thinking about both The Man with No Name and Dirty Harry. Those roles are the basis of Eastwood's iconic persona.

Ever since the early 70s, when Eastwood was the top box office draw, he has conspired to examine, revise and critique his persona to varying degrees. The building blocks of that screen image are Eastwood's tall frame, his intimidating squinty stare, wooden impassivity, furrowed brow, and those terse one-liners he delivers through clenched teeth. Those elements are brought into play in Eastwood's performance as Walt Kowalski, a retired auto worker and recent widower who sits in his porch imbibing beer after beer while ignoring everyone but his dog Daisy.

The Sergio Leone Westerns and the first two Dirty Harry movies turned Eastwood into an emblem of violent masculinity. Throughout his career as director, Eastwood has explored both masculinity and violence within the context of justice and the rule of law. If Leone's spaghetti Westerns, as Pauline Kael pointed out, eliminated the moral dimension and "turned the Western into pure violent reverie", Eastwood's own Westerns such as The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven constitute acts of moral restoration. However urban the setting, Gran Torino incorporates elements indigenous to the Western. Most particularly, the uber-narrative in which a stranger grudgingly but forcefully comes to the aid of a defenseless, civilized group accosted by violent interlopers. In Gran Torino, Eastwood resumes his decades-long restorative project.

Walt has lived in his house for 30 years but his boys got fat and selfish and moved to the suburbs along with the Italians, Irish, and Polish-Americans who used to live there. The absence of law enforcement in Gran Torino implies that when Blacks and Asians moved into the neighborhood, the politicians let it become a place not unlike the Wild West. Walt is as much a stranger here as The Man with No Name in San Miguel, the town in For A Few Dollars More. And, in his own way and at the conclusion of the film, Walt becomes as much the justice dispenser as Dirty Harry.

A major transformation consists of the protagonist's obvious need for social communion, despite his initial protestation. The familial quality of the bonds he develops with the Hmong teens provide precisely that. The seminal roles suggested no such need and vulnerability. Moreover, one troubling characteristic of the Leone Westerns and Dirty Harry movies was that the violence was presented as having no psychic consequences and that there was no philosophical or ethical reflection involved. Generally speaking, Eastwood's directorial efforts redress these faults. In Gran Torino, Walt transcends his racist attitudes via active engagement with the Hmong family and their culture. He also admits to being haunted by his war experience in Korea. The violence has marked him to such an extent that he still bears the scars of 50-year old wounds. And finally, after assessing the circumstances, he concludes that perhaps the only and certainly the most appropriate way to guarantee the safety and well-being of the Hmong family is not to gun down their enemies, but to exercise the ultimate sacrifice.

[Johann]

Awesome writing Oscar.
Your points are great and on the mark.

I don't want anyone calling me racist for saying that I loved the scene where those black dudes are owned by Walt.
That scene was absolutely incredible.
Incredible because something like that is not really possible in the real world and yet it is. It's something so rare and so heroic (in the way in which he dresses down those thugs).
He just OWNS those guys.
To protect two foriegners!
That's crazy, and that's Classic. Movie. Making.
What he does to those guys is what a sane, righteous person wishes they could. He just gets out of his truck and lays down the fucking LAW.

Gran Torino is definitely one of my all-time favorite movies.
It's so simple and yet so complex and so beautifully rendered.
The Dirty Harry and Leone items in your piece are spot on, OJ.
Thanks.

[Chris Knipp]

Gosh. An "all-time favorite" movie. You and Oscar must see things in it that I just don't. I recognize Eastwood's creativity at this stage of his life and his enduring iconic value. His iconic value as an actor seems greater than his artistic value. I remain unconvinced that this is superb filmmaking or a great screenplay. It's workmanlike and shows a sure hand at all times. I have preferred his other recent movies, prior to CHANGLING, which I did not like, though it has nice costumes and period sets. But Clint himself is amazing and I would always go out to see him.

Indeed excellent contextual piece by Oscar.

[Johann]

Everytime I think of Gran Torino I'm reminded of how powerful it is and how much it impacted me.
A movie like this (with the story it has) is not something I would be prone to being interested in.

If I heard the story without seeing how Mr. Eastwood filmed it/performed his role, I would've said that Walt is a fool.
He's gonna sacrifice himself for those people?
Ridiculous!
It's the way in which events and circumstances dictate how Walt acts that blows me away.
Clint got the tiny, little nuances, the seemingly insignificant things that give shade to larger eventualities, decisions he makes,which are surprising.
Who saw that movie and knew how it was going to end?
Nobody.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
I don't want anyone calling me racist for saying that I loved the scene where those black dudes are owned by Walt.
He just OWNS those guys.
What he does to those guys is what a sane, righteous person wishes they could. He just gets out of his truck and lays down the fucking LAW.

No one would call you a racist for loving that scene. As a matter of fact, Walt himself shows that the LAW that he "lays down" deserves to be capitalized as you do. It's a higher level of morality (or law) than that of those who would object to his use of racial epithets but wouldn't have the courage and moral clarity to defend and protect the weak agains thugs of any racial background.

I'm glad you and Chris liked my essay. I also posted one on why Chop Shop is my favorite movie of 2008 that was well-received at school. I apologize for the interruption of my MIFF coverage due to a number of school assignments. The short-format ones (like Gran Torino and Chop Shop) will be posted here at Filmleaf. Positive or negative comments always appreciated.

[Chris Knipp]

The new movie by the Chohp Shop director is out and is receiving very good reviews from NY critics.

[oscar jubis]

Indeed. Ebert is already referring to Goodbye Solo as Bahrani's "third" masterpiece. He will be giving a frame-by-frame analysis of Chop Shop at a Chicago university next month. I wish I could be there.

[Johann]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
And finally, after assessing the circumstances, he concludes that perhaps the only and certainly the most appropriate way to guarantee the safety and well-being of the Hmong family is not to gun down their enemies, but to exercise the ultimate sacrifice.

Plus his health was failing him.
You know what would be a good movie?
All the events that occur after Walt's sacrifice.
That would be an interesting sequel...

[oscar jubis]

In our class discussion, Prof. Rothman underlined that, given his age and failing health, this is probably Walt's last opportunity to do something meaningful and transcendental. In Walt's mind, his sacrifice is not entirely selfless but constitutes a last chance to truly matter and, perhaps, a way to atone for war-time actions that cause him to feel guilty. Moreover, the fact that he doesn't like priests doesn't mean he's convinced he won't have to answer to God once his time on Earth is spent.

[Johann]

Exactly.

I felt that Eastwood deserved a Best Actor nomination because he got the "soldier's conscience" down.
Remember his line about killing Koreans?:
You don't wanna know.