The Seeds of Racism and Self Loathing Implanted by War

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2009)

Few films have been able to translate an aspect that war can have on surviving veterans - that aspect being the embedded hate for 'the enemy' that dominates the world view of those who have had to fight in the battlefields, a hate that too easily translates into generalized racism that persists throughout the life of the veteran. GRAN TORINO takes on this ugly issue and works it with such compelling force that just when the audience feels is cannot tolerate any more racial slurs a transformation takes place, opening a window to understanding and perhaps altering the poison of racism's effects on our American Family.
GRAN TORINO as written by Nick Schenk and Dave Johanson and as produced, directed and acted by Clint Eastwood is not a film easy to hear or watch in its early portions. Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is burying his wife, only to return to his long term home in a neighborhood that has become a sanctuary for Hmong people (an ethnic group from the mountain regions of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma who supported US troops and were evacuated to the US after the Vietnam conflict). Kowalski is a prejudiced bigot who loathes the presence of the (unnamable epithets) neighbors. Next door is a family that includes a young loner boy Thao (Bee Vang) and his worldly sister Sue (Ahney Her) - two young people caught up in the Hmong world where the girls go to school and become employed and the boys go to jail. Kowalski reluctantly befriends a gang threatened Thao and the neighborhood rewards him with endless gifts of flowers and food. Gradually an event secures Kowalski's attachment to Thao and Kowalski grows to understand and respect 'the enemy' - people who are genuinely kind and loving despite Kowalski's personality and lonely bitter veteran's life. The transformation of Walt Kowalski as played by Eastwood is genuinely touching and the way in which the movie ends is surprisingly sophisticated.
There are moments in this bumpy script that are so trite and repetitive and stereotyped that the film becomes almost unwatchable. But it is to the credit of the cast and Eastwood's direction that eventually the repeated verbal slurs of racial hatred make the resolution of the film even more powerful. There are many lessons to be learned by listening and watching this film, not the least of which is insight into the psyches of war veterans from all wars. Grady Harp