The last time Eastwood directed himself in a feature film was the Oscar winner Million Dollar Baby back in 2004. It seems that old age is of no concern to the veteran screen star, who at the grand age of 79 still has the desire to challenge himself on both sides of the camera.
Plot Review of Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran who’s mourning the recent loss of his wife. Walt is every inch the bitter, angry old man, he’s disassociated from his own children who are now fully grown and have their own families. It’s as if the death of their mother is the end of any kind of lifeline to Walt. He’s stuck in his ways, offensive and over critical of just about everything. He’s a detestable human being whose bigotry has pushed everyone away and now finds himself living alone in a neighbourhood run by dysfunctional gangs. The only things in Walt’s life that are worth caring about are his pet dog and the vintage Gran Torino car parked in his garage.
Circumstances couldn’t get much worse when a Korean family move into the house next door. Walt is not shy in expressing his contempt for anything un-American, casting unfavourable glances and the odd racist insult their way. However, all is not well in the Korean’s household. Youngest child Thao, a promising student, is being lured into a local gang led by his tearaway cousin, much to the protest of elder sister Sue. Walt is witness to the gang’s hostility towards his new neighbours but is only willing to intervene when matters boil over onto his own property.
It’s only when Walt sees young Sue being physically threatened by a group of hoodlums one afternoon that he’s prepared to step in and break things up. Exuberating the kind of steely glare and cool composure that only Clint Eastwood can, Walt warns the gang off, brandishing a firearm in the process.
Slowly but surely Walt begins to form a bond with Sue, the polite young girl who, despite Walt’s obvious ignorance towards her family takes the old man under her wing and attempts to get beyond his water tight exterior. Walt loosens his defences and warms to Sue’s qualities as a person and begrudgingly responds to her family’s acts of kindness, even attending a family gathering, albeit uncomfortably. As Walt begins to look upon the Lor family more favourably and strikes a friendship with Sue, he finds himself with a dilemma. Thao’s refusal to join the local gang brings about serious consequences for Sue and her parents. Walt decides to step in and do the unthinkable – defend his immigrant neighbours.
Eastwood’s Gran Torino Has Echoes of the Past
In truth, Gran Torino isn’t a Clint Eastwood classic. It’s more of a thematic amalgamation of several Clint films of old. The movie plays out in a similar fashion to Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns of the 1960’s only this being more of an emotive offering.
Although on the surface there are obvious similarities in character there is notable development in depth of character, Walt is the battle-scarred old man with a lifetime of regrets and inner demons whereas ‘The American’ of Eastwood’s early westerns was more of an emotionless chasm. It’s almost as if Clint has grown reflective in his old age.
This is an entirely different ‘West’ that Clint is plunged into but it’s definitely still wild. Gangs drive around in cars rather than on horses and wield machine guns rather than pistols. Whether Eastwood intends to reference the films of his past isn’t clear but there are definite comparisons. Walt sitting outside his ramshackle house with a gun at his side, waiting for anyone who’s brave enough to cross his path, he’s like a 79 year old cowboy guarding the saloon.
There are even flashes of Dirty Harry, particularly in Walt’s confrontations with the street gang. One particular occasion Walt confronts a gang of youths harassing Sue on a street corner. Pulling an imaginary gun from his jacket and pointing his fingers at the bemused gang leader, you’re almost expecting “make my day” to come out in a husky tone. As is usually the case with Clint Eastwood, dialogue is at a minimum, most of the acting done with an extensive glare and furrowed brow, whatever he does say is certainly to the point and not to everyone’s liking. Father Janovich (a close friend of Walt’s late wife) bears the brunt of many a tirade, branding him “an over educated 27 year old virgin, who holds old lady’s hands” after the clergyman calls round to offer Walt some support in his bereavement.
Gran Torino Is Another String To Eastwood’s Directorial Bow
Clint Eastwood as a director is becoming something of an auteur, specialising in reflective, powerful stories usually with a moral centre. Eastwood’s films will often explore themes of guilt and mental torture with a subsequent redemption, or a central character channelling missed opportunities through a new found companion. Think of loner Frankie Dunn and his relationship with protégé boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby, or Flags of Our Fathers and the guilt experienced by the three surviving soldiers from the famous Iwo Jima photograph. Even the recently released Changeling explores the experiences of a mother wracked with guilt having had her child abducted.
Gran Torino is of similar emotional power, Walt lives out the life he never had with his own children through his two young neighbours, seeing this as the opportunity to right the wrongs of his own failed family. Although not an outstanding feature in terms of the quality of acting on display, it’s worth seeing if just to get a glimpse of Clint at his mean and threatening best.
Rating: 4/5
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