Gran Torino Film Analysis

Gran Torino Film Analysis

Holly Castillo
Intercultural International Communication
OA 40164
Instructor Michael Henry
June 8, 2015

Gran Torino Film Analysis

Introduction: Gran Torino 2008
Clint Eastwood directed, produced and starred in the 2008 film, Gran Torino. This film
was about a Vietnam War Veteran named Walter, played by Clint Eastwood, who lived in a
neighborhood that was being taken over by Hmongs, African Americans and Hispanic. After
losing his wife, Walter is learning to adjust to his life without her. He is also learning how to
adjust to living in a community with other races. There are several different struggles between
Walter and the people in his community as well as struggles between the people who are of
different races and cultures in their community. In this paper I will discuss the cultural conflicts
that were in the film, the popular culture examples that were expressed and my overall feeling
about the film, Gran Torino.
Cultural Conflicts
First Calvary, Vietnam War Veteran, Walter Kowalski Kowalskis wife passed away in the
beginning of the film. This is when I first saw the cultural differences begin. In the church, the

Gran Torino Film Analysis

grand daughter was dressed in clothes that were showing her stomach, some of her chest and she
had a very short shirt on. She had several pierces, and jewelry on. She was also chewing gum
and texting on her phone during the services. The girl was disrespecting the church and her
grandmother by dressing this way and being on her phone in the church. A littler later in the film
the granddaughter is asking Walter about his car, the 1972 Gran Torino, some furniture and some
other material items of his. His granddaughter only seems to have interest in her grandfathers
car and material things and wants to know if she can have them when he dies. Walter catches his
young granddaughter smoking in the garage. These are cultural conflicts between Walter and his
granddaughter. Walter is old fashioned when it comes to how young people should dress and
how they should treat their elders. Walter is very annoyed by his granddaughter wanting his stuff,
especially his car, but not wanting to have anything to do with him. She is very disrespectful as
well.
However it seems that Walters granddaughter has learned some of her behavior from
parents. Her parents complain about Walter in front of their children. They also seem to only care
about his material things including his car and his home and what they will get from him when
his dies. At one point in the film, they try to talk him into to moving into a senior citizens home
so that they do not have to deal with him but they can benefit from his stuff. When Walter finds
out that he is sick and he calls his children, his son does not want to give him his time to talk, so
Walter does not tell him that he is sick.
Another cultural conflict in the film was with Walter and the church. Walters wife was a
member of the church but he was not. When she died one of her last wishes was that Walter s go
to confessions. Father Jake tried to get him to go to the church but he would refuse. He has no
desire to go to church. He even insults the Father by calling him a virgin who likes to hold old
womens hands (Eastwood, 2008). Walters struggle with the church, and religion is an internal

Gran Torino Film Analysis

conflict as well as an external conflict. He voices he opinion and feelings about the church to
Father Jake with no hesitations or reservations.
A big conflict in the film was between Walter and his neighbors. Most of Walters
neighbors have either died or move away and now mostly Hmongs, live in the neighborhood.
There are also some Hispanics, African Americans and some Caucasians that live in his
neighborhood. Walter does not seem to like the Hmong people who have moved into his
neighborhood. He even calls them names like Chinks and fish heads. Since fighting in the
Vietnam War he has struggled with Hmong people. He wants nothing to do with his Hmong
neighbors, he complains that the neighborhood is going downhill with all of them there. He also
says at one point that if his old neighbors could see what their house look like now and he shakes
his head in disgust and grunts. Walter seems to feel that the Hmong do not belong in his
neighborhood and the Hmong grandmother feels that Walter does not belong in the neighborhood
anymore either. Whenever they see eachtoher they give each other dirty looks and say to
themselves that the other one needs to leave. The grandmother says that all the white people have
left and she does not know white Walter, the old dumb man stays (Eastwood, 2008).
One conflict in the film between Walter and his neighbor Thao was when he tried to steal
Walters car. Walter catches and stops Thao from stealing his car and a few days later Walter
even saves Thao from fight with the gang members. After Walter saves Thao from the gang and
the Hmong family learns what Walter did for Thao, they begin to show their appreciation.
Hmong family members begin to bring Walter plants and food to thank him for what he did for
Thao. Walter does not understand or want their gifts, he does not understand their culture.
The biggest war in this movie is between Thao, his sister and the Hmong gang. The
Hmong gang wants Thao to join their gang but Thao does not want to be a part of their gang. He
wants to get an education, get a job, and be a responsible and respectable working man. The
Hmong gang also wants his sister to stop inferring with Thao joining the gang. Thao and Sues

Gran Torino Film Analysis

cousin is a member of the gang and he believes he is trying to protect he cousin by making him a
member, but Sue tells the gang and their cousin to leave Thao alone. The Hmong gang talks Thao
into to trying to steal Walters car, the 1972 Gran Torino, but Walter catches and stops Thao.
After Walter catches Thao, he then refuses to join the gang, their cousin and the gang starts to
hold grudges and do acts of revenge on Thao and his sister. One day on Thao way home from
working a job that Walter helped him get, the gang members beat up Thao and burn his face with
cigarettes. Walter in return beats up one of the gang members. A few days later the gang drive by
Thao house and shoot it up and they beat and rape Sue to get back at Walter, Thao and Sue. This
is by far the biggest and saddest series of conflict in this film.
Gran Torino Conclusion Alternatives
The conclusion to the film Gran Torino, I feel could have ended differently. The ending to
the film was very sad. I feel that Thao and Sue should have told the police what their cousin and
the Hmong gang did to them, then Walter would not have had to do what he did and end his life.
Thao and Sue should have told the police that their cousin and the Hmong gang beat Thao up,
burned his face, shot their house, beat and raped Sue. If they would have told the police what
happened to them they would have been arrested and Walter would still be alive. If other people
would stand up against the gang and tell the police what they have done to them, and help put
them in jail then Walter would not have been shot.
However I do believe that the way the film needed could happen in real life. I also feel
that Walter felt that this was only way to resolve the conflict with the Hmong gang and Thaos
family. Maybe he felt that the gang would get back at the family before the police took them to
jail or before they could testify against them. I also feel that Walter was possibly dying because
he was coughing up blood so he did this to keep himself from suffering any longer and to save
Thao and Sue from the gang. In an article I found on Clint Eastwood it says that Haunted by his
own experience in the Korean Warhe confesses to having killed a defenseless boyand

Gran Torino Film Analysis

having learned from his doctor that he himself is dying, Walt locks Thao in the basement. He
tells Thao that he should never know what it is like to kill a man, and, being the solitary Clint
Eastwood character, after all, heads off alone to confront the bad guys (Redding, 2014, p. 13).
This article also says that the plot line in Gran Torino is developing throughout the film,
as the violence of the contemporary urban frontier gives way, through the heroic actions of
Kowalski, to a new, peaceable order to be inherited by 21st century immigrants. The film
undertakes to offer, a new mythology by passing the keys of American manhood to immigrant
sons of another race (Redding, 2014, p. 13). So possibly this is why they ended the film the way
they did.
Feelings about Gran Torino
Overall I liked this film. I enjoyed watching Walter change his feelings about his Hmong
neighbors and get to know them. He showed distrust, dislike and disgust at first for them but
when Sue invited Walter to her home for a family party and started to tell him about their culture,
him seem to understand and like them better as he got to know them. My favorite character and
who I can relate to the most is Sue. Like myself, she is a young educated woman who is not
afraid to speak her mind and defend her family. She is the one that makes the effort to talk to
Walter first, and get to know him, she even gives him a nickname, Wally. You can tell in the film
that she cares for Walter as if he was a grandfather, she makes sure he has food and that he is
taking care of. Sue seems to be like a caretaker, she watches out for her family, her brother Thao
and now for Walter who is all alone and sick. I am the same way as Sue. I look out and take care
of my family, my siblings, my mother and others around. Education is also very important to me
and I speak my mind like Sue does.
My favorite scene is when she invite Walter to their family party and tells him about
their Hmong culture. The Hmong people play such a big role in this movie that is was so nice to
learn about them in this film. I did not know anything about their culture before this movie.

Gran Torino Film Analysis

When Walter first walks into the Hmong home he pats a child on her head and all the Hmong
people in the home start to give bad looks and groans, Walter doesnt understand why and says
what are you fish heads looking at. The Sue then explains to him that in their Hmong culture,
they dont touch on head, they believe their souls resides on their heads. She also explains to him
that looking people in the eye is considered very rude and thats why they look away when
someone looks at them. She then goes on to explain as another cultural thing that to show
embarrassment or insecurity when Hmong people are being yelled at they tend to smile or grin at
people and to not take it personally or think thin they are laughing at them.
She tells Walter that the men are considered the head of the house, the workers and the
women, here in the United States take care of the children (Eastwood, 2008). Hmong families in
America generally regard men as the head of the family and chief decision-maker. Nonetheless,
women often wield a great deal of power in the family, since they usually have primary
responsibility for the household. (Bankston, 2007).
Sue talks to Walter about why it is important for her brother Thao to stay away from the
Hmong gang. She says that in America the men either work or join the gang and get into trouble
while the women raise the children and get an education. Sue seems to be very traditional with
her Hmong culture. She wants her brother to stay out of trouble and get the education to be the
leader for her family, especially since their father is not around. Acculturation difficulties have
also been found in the discrepant rates of acculturation between the generations. It has been
found that younger generations of Hmong are slowly acculturating to Western society, whereas
elder Hmong are maintaining native traditions and customs (Tatman, 2004, p. 226).
Conclusion
Gran Torino is a very sad movie that is realistic. I feel that this movie could be based on
actual events. Clint Eastwood touch on multicultural conflicts and issues between different races,
ages and cultures in his film. I loved how he took an old, grumpy, racist, Vietnam War veteran

Gran Torino Film Analysis

and made him get to know his Hmong neighbors and even defend them against trouble. Walter
Kowalski learned about his Hmong neighbors, their culture and their struggles with the gang and
other community members. Walter overcame some of his old fashioned ways and views of life
by becoming friends with his Hmong neighbors. I was very sad by the ending and by some of the
events that happened throughout the film, but these events can and do happen in real life. This
was a wonderful film to learn about multicultural communication.
References
Bankston, C. L. (2007). Hmong Americans. Retrieved from Countries and Their Cultures:
http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Hmong-Americans.html
Eastwood, C. (Director). (2008). Gran Torina [Motion Picture].
Goodkin, J. R. (2006). Promoting Hmong Refugees Well-Being Through Mutual Learning:
Valuing Knowledge, Culture, and Experience. American Journal of Community
Psychology, 77-93.
Redding, A. (2014). A Finish Worthy of the Start: The Poetics of Age and Masculinity in Clint
Eastwoods Gran Torin. Academic Search Primier: Film Criticism, 2-23.
Tatman, A. W. (2004). Hmong History, Culture, and Acculturation: Implications for Counseling
the Hmon. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development , 222-233.