“Gran Torino” A story of “inheritance to the next generation” and “redemption” that could only be achieved by Eastwood *Note! Contains spoilers.

Eastwood doesn't pull the trigger

After working for 50 years at the Ford Motor Company, the symbol of the American automobile industry, he continued to live a retired life in Detroit, which had completely become an oriental town, drinking canned beer alone on the porch of his home where the American flag was flying, and swearing a lot. Kowalski. He is a "good old American" who has been left behind by the times (even his family says he is "still living in the 1950s"), and his beloved Gran Torino is a symbol of this.

When he meets the Hmong people, he gradually begins to feel a stronger spiritual bond with them than with his family. Kowalski entrusted his beloved Gran Torino to Tao, a Hmong boy, as a way of passing it on to the next generation, transcending generations and races, from Eastwood, a man who has continued to protect what is truly American. there were. However, this "inheritance" must not be as bloody as Eastwood's previous films.

"Gran Torino" (c)2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

Eastwood has always depicted the clearest Western theme of ``revenge,'' including ``The Stranger '' (1973) and `` The Jack Reacher '' (1976), for example. Once he gets his hands on a gun, there will be a lot of blood. But Walt Kowalski doesn't pull the trigger for "revenge." All he has to do is pretend to pull the trigger of a gun with his finger, which is now nothing but bones and skin, and he falls under the hail of machine gun bullets fired by the thugs. Many Eastwood movie fans, including Kiyoshi Kurosawa, were stunned by this situation, which was the first of its kind in the history of an Eastwood movie.

"How does it feel to kill someone? It's the worst feeling in the world."

The words Kowalski says to Tao, who is excited to go kill the thugs, may also be words of atonement for Eastwood's past actions. Nick Schenck made this comment in an interview:

Interviewer: ``For those who have witnessed Eastwood's work, if he picks up a rifle, people will die. But he never fires a shot.''

Nick Schenk: "Well, the only thing he shoots in the movie is the beer sign on the garage wall. When Clint has a gun, everyone expects him to mow down bad guys. But... , that is not the case with this work.”

Interviewer: ``For someone who has continued to pursue the symbol of the gunman and the western genre that he has directed and continued to support, including Don Siegel and Sergio Leone, I expect that he will definitely get his revenge at the end of the film.''

Nick Schenk: “Yes, in the sense that it defies expectations, it will be the complete opposite of Dirty Harry.”

(Excerpt from Eureka Clint Eastwood Special )

Yes, ``Gran Torino'' became a movie in which ``passing on to the next generation'' and ``redemption'' function because we have come to identify with the main character played by Eastwood and Eastwood himself. That's an incredible feat that no one but Clint Eastwood could accomplish.

Text: Rui Takeshima

A pop culture writer who wants to be kicked by Hit Girl. Host of the web magazine " POP MASTER ".

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"Gran Torino"

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(c)2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.