Desperate to cure ourselves of the horrific trauma of watching that stolen shit Ghajini, we were eager for some purifying Ganga Jal.
And we found our moksha in the new Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino (in limited release now in the U.S.).
Gran Torino is that rare all sizzle and all steak movie.
If you thought Slumdog Millionaire was great, you ain’t seen nothing till you watch this splendid tour de force produced and directed by Clint Eastwood.
Yes sir, Clint Eastwood also plays the key role in this movie.
As the gruff recent widower Walt Kowalski much irritated by the arrival of Hmong immigrants as his new next-door neighbors, Clint Dirty Harry Eastwood turns in a mighty good performance that’s the talk of the town for its Oscar possibilities.
Already hostile and racist in his attitude and words, Walt Kowalski becomes incensed when he catches one of his Hmong neighbors, the young boy Thao (Bee Vang), trying to steal his prized Gran Torino car as part of a gang initiation rite.
Gooks, zipperheads, chinks and swamp rats are only some of the racist insults Walt hurls at the Hmongs (some of them are not his neighbors but gang-members trying to get young Thao to join them).
In one of his particularly irate moments, Walt, a Korean war veteran, tells Thao:
We used to stack fucks like you five feet high in Korea and use you for sandbags.
On another occasion, he tells some gang members in the hallmark menacing Clint Eastwood style:
Ever notice how once in a while you come across someone you shouldn’t fuck with. That’s me.
But as Thao makes amends for his attempted theft of the Gran Torino and with Thao’s bossy elder sister Sue (Ahney Her) acting as his guide to the family, the grouchy old man Walt slowly warms to his Hmong neighbors as he contrasts them to his own selfish children and trashy grandchildren.
As he acknowledges:
I have more in common with these gooks than with my own rotten, spoiled family.
But Gran Torino is more than just a racist tirade or a violent tale.
There are some superb comic moments and the one that lingers is Continue reading »
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