Gran Torino
year: 2009
director: clint eastwood
starring: clint eastwood (walt kowalski), ben vang (thao), ahney her (sue)
it's amazing what some films inspire. i think one thing Gran Torino SHOULD inspire is understand other cultures and races and learning that no matter what nationality you are or what different cultures do, some things are universal. but i didn't expect Gran Torino to leave me wanting to do housework!
as odd as it sounds, learning about Mr. Kowalski, and how he's stern, hard nosed, a prick essentially, no nonsense and determined to finish what he starts, he's the type of guy that doesn't do "fun" things, but does what needs to be done. i'm a lazy person naturally at times (even though i have a propensity for cleaning because i'm OCD with having a dirty house) so during parts of Gran Torino i wanted to just up and just start working, chopping wood, hammering s*** and other stuff
odd, i know.
anyway, the film, as most probably know because i'm behind the eight ball here, is a strict, hard nosed "American everything" old man who is a war vet who lives in a neighborhood that has become all Hmong with residents. he doesn't like them, and makes no qualms about it, and they don't like him. hell, he doesn't like any race. and there's no excluding Caucasians as well. but it's not the skin tone, it's how they act: gang bangers, making your car look hideous, using slang terms, not working hard, being a "p****" and being in a gang, and everything under the sun. the best part is he doesn't just grumble about this in the comfort of his home. he says it right to their faces
which is kind of awesome, but also kind of sad, because even though the character is written extremely awesome and is a bad ass, there are a lot of people like this is in the world, and they are certainly not awesome. dangerous line to cross because i hope some punk redneck 12 year old doesn't try and imitate Kowalski his whole life
because that's not the point of the film.
but when his neighbor, Thao, who doesn't want to be a gang banger and has bigger aspirations, but still pisses of Kowalski when he tries to steal his car forms an odd bond, a friendship is formed between the most unlikely of individuals.
there was one scene in the film that i had to pause and think about and it shocked me a bit how i wasn't surprised when it happened, but only after i thought about it:
[Show spoiler]when Sue invites Kowalski over for their BBQ. and he agrees. it's an awesome scene that shows how far both people have come. but the trick is that, this is 47 minutes in to the film! and with the first 20 minutes, i NEVER would have suspected or believed that he would be in his neighbors house enjoying food with them.
it's a sign of terrific writing, realistic writing, great pacing and a believable story. a lot of other films could have fudged this up and i would have said, "oh come on..." but how Eastwood directs and writes the film is wonderful.
there are some great scenes of humor in the film too, of course, because of how racist and uncaring Kowalski is. i love how Kowalski
[Show spoiler]always screws up names, especially calling Thao, "Toad"
the directing is great, as is most of the acting (all except for when some characters try and express anger and yell). nothing too flashy, which is probably vintage Eastwood (only seen like, 4 of his films) and seems to fit his personality.
one character i couldn't stand though was
[Show spoiler]the Priest
ugh i hated how he was so smothering and always there. like, every 10 minutes he would just be wandering through the neighborhood :choke: he was extremely annoying imo.
i did enjoy the relationship between Sue and Kowalski though. she was great and didn't take his racist comments to heart and actually made jokes out of them. they were like complete 180's of each other, but both enjoyed each others company.
the only thing i can really think as to being a flaw would be the lack of surprise in the film and the typical portrayal of the characters and story. Kowalski is a hard edged bad ass who learns to enjoy and accept other cultures (or at least some people FROM other cultures) and then
[Show spoiler]learns to be at peace.
and of course Thao
[Show spoiler]learns what hard work and determination gets you and learns to stand up for himself and be strong
among other things. it's not really a flaw, but it's one of those things you know is coming, but doesn't wreck the film at all.
although i must say i was a bit surprised by the ending, but i guess i should have see something like that coming. tricky, tricky Eastwood!
PQ: 4.5/5 - a lot of dark, shadowy scenes, but scenes that are well lit are very well detailed
AQ: 3.5/5 - not a lot of sound going on, but sometimes the dialogue was hard to hear, almost like people were too far away from their marks, had to constantly turn up the volume.
4.5/5
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
): 
unless i missed something, did we figure out what was happening or what happened when he left / why he left? i'm guessing i missed that part 
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