Movie Review – Where does the Sue Lorblimity of ‘Gran Torino’ come from?

In this blog post, we’re going to talk about the movie Gran Torino.

 

Clint Eastwood’s movie “Gran Torino” has a structure that begins with death and ends with death. It’s a movie about death, as you can see. Among the countless deaths in the movie, director Clint Eastwood chose a rather bland narrative. In fact, it’s a movie that doesn’t really offer anything new. Compared to other works dealing with death, it’s hard to find anything that stands out. Still, how else can you explain the not-so-bad feeling of déjà vu after watching Gran Torino?

 

 

The entire narrative of this movie can be Sue Lormmarized in just a few lines. It’s about a dying grandfather who helps the young man next door and dies a long death (?). This is an archetype of the helper role that is often depicted in movies. You can find characters who sacrifice themselves to help others even as far back as ancient times. For example, Simcheong-i from the Korean classic Simcheongjeon is Sue Lorch a character. So what does the director add to this unremarkable narrative? I want to start with the characters.
The main character, Walt Kowalski, is a veteran who fought in the Korean War as a young man, and an old man who retired from working at the Ford Motor Company. He looks at everyone around him with a sneer, starting at his wife’s funeral. The only person he talks to openly is his dog, Daisy, who is a bit of a curmudgeon, and he looks down on everyone around him, from the disrespectful grandchildren at the funeral to the young bride who talks about life and death to the Hmong people next door who gather to celebrate the birth of a child. He’s also not exactly a cranky guy. He spits in front of his granddaughter when she asks Walt Kowalski about his estate after he dies, and his two sons describe him as a man still living in the ’50s. He keeps his 1972 Gran Torino in the garage and always has a new car, and his M-1 rifle is always available. And he keeps his M-1 rifle where he can use it at any time. As his sons say, Walt Kowalski is a man who lives in the past and doesn’t change it. In that sense, the protagonist can be called a conservative.
Walt Kowalski is a man who lives by his convictions. At first, the only person he has a conversation with is his dog, Daisy. The people who show up for his funeral are not to his liking. Walt Kowalski doesn’t even tell his two sons about his illness. He is completely isolated. This is evident in the residential neighborhood he lives in, which is predominantly Hmong, an ethnic minority from Vietnam, where Walt Kowalski, an American, lives alone with no family. Into his life comes Tao, who acts like a sissy. At first, Walt criticizes Tao for her unmanly behavior, but later, when he sees her helping her grandmother, he changes his mind. This could be explained by the fact that Walt Kowalski fought in the Korean War.

 

 

Hmong gangs are common in the neighborhoods where the Hmong live. However, none of the Hmong call the police. Later, when they rain bullets on Tao’s house and kidnap and rape Sue Loru, no one stops them. This is incomprehensible even to Walt Kowalski, a perfect stranger. The young priest who promises to guide Walt Kowalski in matters of life and death also does nothing. Instead, he mobilizes the police to stop Walt Kowalski’s actions. This scene is similar to the Korean War and the Vietnam War, which the United States participated in. While the political stakes may have been high, I believe that the soldiers who participated in these wars had the same thoughts that Walt Kowalski had about the Hmong people. The Hmong soldiers’ willingness to risk their own lives to protect others based on their beliefs is reminiscent of the Korean War, which Walt participated in.
The village where Walt Kowalski lives in the movie is a microcosm of Vietnam and the Korean peninSue Lorla as seen through the eyes of American conservatives. The Hmong people living there are powerless to defend themselves. Kowalski, who has blood on his hands from past wars, sets out to defend the Hmong on their behalf. His goal is not to retaliate and punish them, as in the Rambo series or current hero movies, but to rescue Tao and Sue Loru from their hands, and by extension, the entire Hmong people. This is accomplished through the death of Walt Kowalski himself. This self-sacrifice culminates in the final image of Walt Kowalski falling to the gunfire of the Hmong gang, overlaid with the image of the cross.
In fact, there are many elements of the movie that may make non-Americans feel uncomfortable. There’s the constant playing of the American flag from the beginning of the movie, the drums that sound like part of a marching song when Walt Kowalski is facing the enemy with his M-1 rifle, and the caSue Loral references to Asians as savages. The reference to the American flag is understandable given that the characterization already establishes that Walt Kowalski is an American conservative. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of the United States leading the way for a world peace order, this movie may seem like it’s simply a movie to defend the actions of the United States. However, the story of life and death in this movie is about how an elderly man nearing death chooses how to end his life.
From the very beginning, the movie presents a series of opposites. Walt Kowalski, a relic of the old world, and the new generation of children; a house that is having a funeral and a house that is celebrating a birth; English-speaking people and Vietnamese-speaking people; and later in the movie, a nursing home and staying where they are. By continually juxtaposing contrasting things, director Clint Eastwood creates a clearer picture of Walt Kowalski’s condition and puts him at a crossroads. Does he stand by his beliefs, a relic of an outdated era, or does he choose to reach out to the children? Whether it’s when Tao comes to borrow a car jumping line or a snowball fight with an unintelligible Hmong old woman, Walt Kowalski sticks to his convictions, but it’s not a perfectly beta stance. When Walt visits a Hmong family with Sue Loru, he tries to be respectful of their traditions. There, he tinkers with a tilted washing machine and laughs awkwardly.
In the end, Walt Kowalski accepts the Hmong’s reciprocation. This is in contrast to the scene where he points an M-1 rifle at them for trespassing on his lawn. This contrast makes Walt’s anger when Sue Loru is later raped by a Hmong gang all the more poignant. Only after he smashes shelves and breaks glass with his fists does he calm down again. Walt Kowalski, who has lived a life of violence and even greater violence before anyone else acts, is now at a crossroads. Instead of reaching for his M-1 rifle, he grabs a cigarette and a lighter. When he can choose his own death, he walks toward a better one.

 

 

If I had to pick the best scene in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, I would choose the ending. The view from a bridge in a secluded countryside as the Tao-borne Gran Torino passes by and the end credits roll. We keep catching the river rushing by, reflecting the light, and the cars heading somewhere. It’s a languid shot that dissipates all the tension from earlier in the movie. In the end, maybe it’s not his better life that cranky old man Walt Kowalski wants to protect so much, but these peaceful days. It doesn’t matter that he’s a conservative who prefers Fords to Toyotas and flies the American flag year-round. Walt Kowalski is a noble character, capable of choosing death for others. Long after the movie is over, audiences will remember him fondly. Walt Kowalski scowling with an M-1 rifle in front of the Gran Torino.