...It is important to know one’s own identity. We might ask ourselves what exactly is identity? Well, Patricia Briggs in Cry Wolf has said that ‘identity is partly heritage, partly upbringing, but mostly the choices you make in life’ and I think it wouldn’t have been a better way to show it than in the feature film, “Gran Torino.” This film written and directed by Clint Eastwood in 2008 embodies the struggle of an American man who hates all things foreign due to his upbringing, to a man that mentors a foreigner and ultimately chooses to sacrifice his life to bring justice to them. Walt Kowalski is characterised to be an old fashioned, hard-core American man who hates foreign objects. This is emphasised from the close up shots of Walt’s disapproving glare juxtaposed with close up shots of his granddaughter’s scanty clothes. Also it is emphasised in the conversation that his sons have. Furthermore, his hate for foreign made objects is illustrated when he looks displeased at his son’s choice of car. The close up shot on the car clearly illustrates that it is ‘Toyota’ and not an American car. He also adds through gritted teeth “kill you to buy American” emphasises his animosity for foreign cars and the shudder at the end illustrates his disgust for foreign objects. Throughout the film, Kowalski is depicted to be incapable of interacting with a non-white person without using the most offensive racial epithets. This snarling character also represents masculinity that relies on overt...
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...Gran Torino Jamie P. Lard Texas A&M University-Central Texas Summary The movie “Gran Torino” tells the story of Walt Kowalski (played by Clint Eastwood), who is a retired autoworker and also a veteran of the North Korean war. In the first part, the film Walt loses his wife, Dorothy. He is survived by his two sons their wives and grandchildren. However, Mr. Kowalski chooses not to display affection toward or even try to bond with his sons, daughters-in-laws, and grandchildren. He spends much of his time sitting on the front porch drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and growling at the neighborhood people as they walk past his house. It seems that Kowalski has difficulties communicating with non-whites without making offensive racial remarks. It is evident that the racial slurs he makes throughout the first part of the movie are for self-gratification. Mr. Kowalski’s snarling character emanates a form of white machismo that uses racism as a way of empowering himself. In the movie “Gran Torino” the cultural diversity is abundant; however it is met with prejudice and resistance from the main character, Walt Kowalski. His house is located in an once prominent area of Highland Park, Michigan. Mr. Kowalski was an American made man, everything that he owns was made in America. Mr. Kowalski was upset with his sons for purchasing foreign cars because he as always purchased American made cars. Which brings us to the main feature of the film is the “Gran Torino.” Mr...
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...Gran Torino (2008) is an American drama film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also assumes the role of lead actor. Right from the outset, it becomes abundantly clear that Eastwood is having fun with this film and its central character, Walt Kowalski. Credit must go to Eastwood, given that his penchant for fun does not undermine the serious nature of the plot. The majority of film reviewers draw attention to Kowalski’s troubled existence in a changing world. Conflict escalates after the death of Kowalski’s wife, particularly as Kowalski’s life becomes embroiled with the Hmong family living next door. At the surface level of plot, this is a story about a man and his struggles with himself and the world around him. At a deeper level, however, this is a profoundly religious story through which a viewer may, to use Robert Ellis’ expression, “stumble across the gospel travelling incognito.”1 [2] Many scholars have demonstrated successfully that ostensibly secular films can sustain a religious interpretation. The potential for audiences to tap into the religious nature of certain films, to perceive a sacred subtext, is due to the fact that “narratives have a dual nature, namely, an overt plot and a covert storyline of varying complexity that is comparable to the metaphorical or symbolic within literature.”2 For this reason, as Anton Kozlovic explains, “secular film can engage in religious storytelling without appearing ‘religious’.”3 While most reviewers of Gran Torino focus...
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