Gran Torino

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The whole audience laughed uproariously at each and every growl from grizzled, leathery Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood. Every grumpy, laconic one liner caused a wide grin from us, and every glare a chuckle. Walt Kowalski is angry and with good reason, his family are no-good, spoilt exploiters, trying to peck at his skeleton before he’s even dead. We see them through his eyes, and we laugh because the contempt he lambastes them with is utterly deserved and perfectly well put. When Walt’s granddaughter “pays her respects” at her grandmother’s coffin in a belly top, a growl fits exactly what we‘re feeling. It’s an interesting perspective, the point of view of the family elder, almost always the supporting character in any given movie.

The film is an exploration of isolated Walt slowly getting to know his immigrant Hmong neighbours, through the Hmong teenagers Sue and Thao. It’s an unlikely but convincing relationship, as despite Walt being extremely bigoted and racist, he comes to realise that the Hmong community has the values he wishes his own family had, such as a respect for elders and a hard work ethic. Walt takes Thao under his wing, doing his disgruntled best to help Thao become a man by pushing him to ask the girl he likes out, getting him a job in a construction site and trying to protect him from the local gang. I wasn’t very interested in Thao at the start, finding him boring and unsympathetic, but he vindicates himself and becomes very likeable by the end.

Gran Torino’s consistent washed out, white and green look gives the film a distinctive personality and cohesive feel. I liked the way the camera followed Walt into the Hmong household, making us feel like him, a stranger in a bustling, alien home. The frequent Walt close-ups keep us up to date with his thoughts and opinions via his expression (he’s a man of few words!) and as most of the film is following him, we feel close to the cantankerous old man.

The story is predictable, most of the time. Not an awful thing in itself but I was cringing at one of the last scenes, with Walt lying in a crucified pose, having sacrificed himself to get the gang imprisoned. It felt a bit contrived and blunt; it made sense, but I think I would have preferred Walt to go out in a blaze of glory or some other non-Jesus comparison based solution. The movie doesn’t make us think, much. It’s not a terrible thing, not every movie should make us question our beliefs or inspire debate, but Gran Torino didn’t feel very challenging - the bad characters could have been made more sympathetic, the good more flawed (yeah, Walt was racist, but he got over that and it was mostly limited to un-PC insults).

Despite this, Gran Torino is a magnificent movie and I was transfixed throughout. There are hilarious moments, such as Walt the 78 year old confronting the black gang pushing Sue and her wigger boyfriend around. The various insult matches between Walt and his hairdresser and Walt and quick-witted Sue also stand out as very funny. There are, however, also scenes where you really appreciate the vulnerability of the Hmong family, culminating in real grief (even anger) when the gang exacts their vengeance. A film that can command such varied feelings so potently is worth high praise.

****