Gran Torino MIYST

   Though many who have seen the movie “Gran Torino”  believe that it is an ugly movie, I see the beauty in the truth.  This movie has an interesting irony, bringing back the Korean War to America as we see the conflict unfold between the patriotic conservative (Clint Eastwood) and the growing population of Korean descendants. 

         

  It is obvious to anyone who has seen this movie that Clint Eastwood plays a racist.  His character’s racism is particularly shown in comments given towards Koreans, though other racial slurs are said towards the Jewish, Irish, blacks etc..  I believe this is an essential truth that needs to be shown for this movie to have any credibility or impact. 

       

     The well acted/directed movie, brings realism, bravery, nobility and change of heart.  I loved watch the affect that the boy and his family had on Clint, especially since they were the people he felt threatened by.  It exemplified the classic saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.  Clint’s change of heart, as affected through the Korean boy and his family, allows him to use his attributes of bravery and nobility in a fight for his neighbor’s safety. This was a fight that he otherwise may not have paid much mind to prior to meeting the family and experiencing their kindness. The kindness that was shown to this cranky old man set him free to do good for the people he hated. 

           

Another reason I liked this movie was that Asian culture is intuitively interesting to me and I enjoyed seeing the mix of Asian culture with American.  This is a classic conflict within our nation's history that is not always addressed in the best way.  What I liked about this movie is that Clint Eastwood showed the truth in the conflict. 

This is my third time watching Gran Torino and it is still my favorite.  I am glad I had the opportunity to watch it again through this class because it allowed me to view like a real critic!  I noticed lots of things I didn't before. 

 I think that Clint Eastwood is trying to leave society w/ something from his era. They make the disrespectfulness of the younger generation very obvious and apparent. He shows his disgust and also what a little discipline can do for our generation. But, he also shows how the younger generation can show something to the older generation just as they did with their kindness.  

He also shows that no matter what your age is the mixing and harmony of cultures can be difficult but prosperous. Both sides (Caucasians and Mung people) benefited by the end of the movie. 

I finally figured out the line! "The thing that haunts a man the most is what he isn't ordered to do".   This is a line a i didn't really understand when i watched it the first two times so I really thought about it this time through.  He delivers this line to the priest of the town and they are talking about the Korean war and the horrible past that burdens them.  He is talking about the guilt that a soldier feels when he has to do an appalling act in combat and is not ordered to do it. The guilt must be much stronger because if the he was ordered to do it then the solider could just deal with that by Saying they had to. But if they aren't then there is always the feeling of what if they had done it differently or let the person live?  

I give this movie 5 stars out of 5! I loved it!
Go Clint!