One of the best movies of 2008-2009

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2010)

Gran Torino is a movie about a war veteran named Walt who befriends his neighbors Thao and Sue and mentors them in the right direction, but ends up defending them in a courageous event against gangsters who harm both Thao and Sue. There are only two major actors in this movie: Clint Eastwood, who plays Walt, and John Carroll Lynch, who plays Walt's barber. However, the main actors include: Christopher Carley (Father Janovich), Bee Vang (Thao), Ahney Her (Sue), and Choua Kue (Youa). I feel that the theme of this movie is courage because it is what Walt teaches Thao during his weeks working and mentoring him.
There are a few plot points that reiterate the theme. One is when Walt defends Sue while she is being hassled by three black men while being on a date. He pulls a gun on the three men and takes Sue home. Thao's cousin tries to initiate him into a gang by stealing Walt's Gran Torino, but when it goes bad, Thao decides it's a bad idea, but his cousin and friends gang up on Thao and his family for a short time before Walt points a shot gun at them demanding that they leave all while spitting out racist comments. The biggest scene wear courage is displayed is when Walt sacrifices his own life in order to save Thao and Sue's. Walt goes to where the gang members were staying with the intention of getting shot, but having witnesses so that they would be put in jail and Thao and Sue could move on with their lives happily.
Another film that is similar in it's theme to Gran Torino is American History X because it is also about racism, but also it shows courage when a former skin head goes to prison and comes out not afraid of who he became, which is a non-bigot. Motif and lighting are two techniques that are relevant to the film. Motif is the more important of the two because it was his motive or intention to trap the gang members in order to put them away for life, but he did that by being courageous, which was what he was use to being a war veteran who was suffering from the thoughts of killing so many people. Lighting assisted mostly in the drama of the moment. A lot of low-key lighting was used to reinforce the theme. Whenever something courageous or risky was about to happen, the lighting was always low and it was directed to Walt's facial expression to make the scene more intense. The ending to the movie was the big bang to reveal the theme. Most themes are difficult and yet subjective, so most viewers may see something else as the theme, but it is the perception of the viewer at this point. Gran Torino is a good film that teaches moral values and how even bad things can be turned into good things, like the irony of Thao trying steal Walt's Gran Torino and then Walt allowing him to take Youa on a date in it. No matter of a person's background or initial opinion of someone, they always have some form of good nature about them.