Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood is the only actor that I could tell from this movie, not the other actors and actresses. He played the main character who is a lonely old man, Walt Kowalski, and also he produced this movie as a director. He resolved the story very movingly like his other movies, so I dare to say he can be listed as a master director.

This movie is about disappearing things in the United States. The Road is dominated by cars from other countries like Japan and Germany instead of Ford....



Every day Walt mows the grass in front of his house… With these things, old Walt is just waiting for the day he will die. After he lost his wife, he disconnects from his son and grandsons, so he lives alone. For me, the only thing that seemed left was the moment that something would make him end this life. However, there’s a change to his life through the relation with a Hmong boy who tries to steal his 1972 Gran Torino which is Walt's most cherished possession.









At first, Walt Kowalski isn’t happy about Hmong immigrants because he thinks they ruin American tradition and value without reason. For him, America is not only a nation, but a faith. That is to say, if someone is an American according to his thought, he or she should drive a car made by Ford not by Toyota, and mow the grass every morning. This is the reason that he is unhappy about Hmong immigrants since they are not living like Americans, even though they are living in America. In fact, Walt refuses not only neighbors but also the 27-year-old young priest who tries to open Walt's mind.







Walt, who was stubborn, changes little by little through Hmong neighbors. He begins to understand their cultures, and respect their way to live. Though he looked unhappy living alone, I could see his smile the more he hung around the Hmong family. I could guess that something bad would happen or that a tragic ending was waiting for me by his happy face. (It's not easy to write the review not being a spoiler. I don’t want to ruin others' expectations about this movie!) The happiest face of Walt Kowalski was in the moment he taught many things to Tao, like the way to say hello as a true man, or the way to use equipment and so forth.













To be frank with you, there’s no way to express how much I appreciated this movie. If you want to be touched, just go and watch it!

However, if I say a little funny thing in this movie, it would be a Hmong boy’s name called Tao. Kowalski usually called him ‘Todd’ because he might want to call him like that or he might be puzzled at an Asian name. By the way, it could be a hint that Tao would be the owner of the Gran Torino in the end, since the best selling color of Gran Torino at that time was toad green.