Clint Eastwood's 2008 project Gran Torino has recently been released on DVD, and what a delight it is. Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean War vet and retired auto worker whose wife has just passed away.
I was unable to catch the film in theaters, despite my desire to do so. Based in Michigan, Gran Torino was filmed places like Royal Oak, Warren, Grosse Pointe, and Highland Park. As the production notes state, "Though the screenplay was initially set in Minneapolis, Eastwood felt Walt’s past as a 50-year auto worker would resonate most as a resident of 'Motor City'—Detroit, Michigan."
It was a wise decision. Everything about Gran Torino rings true, from Walt's disdain for his priest, whom he calls "an overeducated 27-year-old virgin," to his way of speaking (he "slings racial slurs like most people use nouns and verbs"), to the local ambiance (including a "ghetto clothesline" in the basement of Walt's Hmong neighbors). The film's action revolves around the title character, a 1972 Gran Torino, Walt's prized possession, a car that he had a hand in building himself. Walt's bigotry extends most virulently to his neighbors, the Lor family, Hmong immigrants from southeast Asia. One of the boys in the family, Thao, is eventually pressured into joining a neighborhood gang. His first assignment is to steal Walt's car.
When he is unsuccessful in doing so (Walt sleeps with one eye open), and Thao refuses to continue in the gang's initiation, things turn especially dangerous. The gang threatens Thao, but his family convinces him to work for Walt in order to show his repentance. The relationship between Walt and Thao is the most dynamic aspect of the film, and the basis of their relationship is the reconciling value of work. Walt puts Thao to work around the neighborhood, and in so doing creates discipline, inculcates valuable skills, and teaches him how to be a responsible adult. As Walt says to Thao, "Take these three items: some WD-40, a vice grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone."
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