Low level set, but broad in its explorations of a man with a supposedly concrete opinion on the world whose mind is opened up.

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2010)

Gran Torino documents the gradual changing of an elderly man, a young man and the world around them. It's a rare demonstrative piece that places two lead characters side by side, on the same equilibrium, whilst simultaneously having them uncover and discover new things about themselves; life and everything. It's an additional exploration of grizzled old men, whose minds are supposedly so elderly; experienced and 'made up' that they will never change; but actually can, in fact, suffer epiphanies of their own, at this age and at their own pace. The film additionally explores masculinity in a pretty faultless manner, touching on issues and using both of these males, from yester-year and the modern age respectively, as subjects to flesh out an interesting study.
The film begins at the funeral of Walt Kowalski's (Eastwood) wife. Various people are paying their respects in what must be a very humbling time, but the item that catches Walt's gaze more than most, which will double up as our own, are his son's children; his grandchildren, of whom seem to treat the occasion in a manner that is rather disrespectful in their squabbling and messing about. Very early on, we are placed behind the eyes and within the mind of Walt – we are fed the adverse reaction to the behaviour of the kids and brought into having the same reaction Walt does when he singles out focusing on them doing what they do. It's a dismissive gaze that maintains its presence generally up until around a certain point, that being when a woman across the street will drop groceries in her drive and some kids walk by laughing. Walt's observing of this sees him get up to go and help, but a young Korean boy named Thao (Vang) who lives next door with his Korean family, stops him when he himself walks over to help. The opinion and viewpoint on the day's youth is framed and shot through the same technique as at the funeral, but the actions of the contemporary youth is different therefore helping in rendering Walt's opinions of contemporary youth as a complete waste of space a mite false.
The film, Eastwood's sixth in six years, is a triumph of drama and tragedy; placing two people of binary opposites together on screen and allowing their own explorations of thoughts and experiences to unfold. To say it's a film about a decaying society in which turf wars and gang violence are apparent at every turn that just so happens to contain a character of Eastwood's kind would be doing it an injustice. Walt spends most of his days, now that his wife is dead, rejecting the help from a local priest who wants him to go to confession more often than Walt does; refraining from having conversations down the phone with his son Mitch and generally speaking his thoughts, out loud for our own benefit, about the ever-falling apart world that he sees around him. The seed that the film plants in out heads to do with whether Walt is as stable as everyone hopes he is occurs when his two sons talk in a pew at their mother's funeral; they're concerned as to whether their father can maintain a 'normal' state now he's alone and this kicks off some somewhat ominous preconceptions that might spring to mind.
Walt's relationship with Thao is the mainstay of the film, a sort of scouting for talent in an ever-changing world for the worse, and how this talent can be nurtured so as to maintain the natural decency and respect the boy carries; but to additionally instill, or indeed pass on, an odd sort of controlled anger or rooted element of masculinity which Walt so clearly possesses, but holds back for those occasions that sees it necessary for it to be evoked. Incidentally, there are those additionally on Thao's level of whom have their own views on masculinity, and what it's like 'to be a man'; best highlighted very early on when a rather large Korean gangster-come-gun runner retorts about how he used to be similar to Thao in appearance and generality but now that he's an Uzi-wielding gang member, cruising around in a souped-up car with his fellow gangsters, in which threat and antagonism with just about anybody lies around the corner, nobody messes with him.
Walt and Thao's bonding comes about in Walt's inability to properly communicate with most adults and Thao's inability to do the same with most youths around him. Hispanic gangsters goad him with slurs to do with his ambiguous appearance linked to gender and the Koreans later exclaim that what he's doing, ie; gardening, is women's work. In their coming together, Walt is able to spend time and interact with others of Thao's nature; calming both his nationalistic and somewhat racist driven persona along with his ageist view on the world around him. Walt's gradual coming around to recognise these things is a brilliantly observed character study on Eastwood's behalf.
With Gran Torino and films like Changeling and Letters from Iwo Jima, Eastwood has now constructed a number of films about some pretty harrowing, rather confrontational situations and subject matters, which just come across as instantly accessible without ever really feeling exploitative. Thao's sister, Sue, is a positive presentation of a female character in an extremely male dominated film and stands up to both gang members and the early wretched attitude of Walt on a number of occasions. The Gran Torino of the title is a beautifully preserved and well treated car which Eastwood's character himself aided in building many years ago and now owns on his grounds. Like the car of the title, the film is treated with the equal level of respect; as character study and observations on the ever changing modern world in which these people live play out.