Gran Torino is a 2008 drama film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the lead role. The film features a significant Hmong American cast, a first for mainstream American films. Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens composed the score, while Jamie Cullum and Clint Eastwood provided the lead track.
Set in Highland Park, Michigan, the story follows Walt Kowalski (Eastwood), a recently widowed Korean War veteran alienated from his family. When Kowalski's neighbor Thao Vang Lor is pressured by his cousin into stealing Walt's prized Ford Torino as initiation into a gang, Walt thwarts the theft and develops a relationship with the boy and his family.
Gran Torino opened with a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 12, 2008, before expanding wide on January 9, 2009. It grossed $270 million worldwide, making it Eastwood's second highest-grossing film to date. The film received generally positive reviews from critics who noted Eastwood's direction and performance, while it received some criticism for its inaccurate depiction of the Hmong community.
Plot Recently widowed Walt Kowalski is an ill-tempered and racially prejudiced Korean War veteran and retired Ford factory worker. His Rust Belt neighborhood in Metro Detroit has become ridden with gang violence among poor Hmong immigrants, including Walt's next-door neighbors, the Vang Lor family. Walt is estranged from his spoiled family, and on his eightieth birthday angrily rejects his son's suggestion that he move to a retirement community in favor of living alone with his aging Labrador retriever Daisy. A chronic smoker, Walt suffers from coughing fits, occasionally spitting up blood. As Walt's late wife requested, her priest, Father Janovich, tries to comfort Walt and persuade him to go to confession. Despite being harshly rejected by Walt, Father Janovich persists.
Thao Vang Lor is coerced by a Hmong gang led by his cousin, "Spider," to steal Walt's 1972 Ford Gran Torino as an initiation. Walt catches Thao and thwarts the theft; Thao escapes after Walt nearly shoots him. When the gang tries to abduct Thao forcefully, Walt scares them off with his M1 Garand rifle, earning the local Hmong community's respect. As penance, Thao's mother makes Thao work for Walt performing tasks that improve the neighborhood. The two men soon form a tenuous mutual respect. Walt mentors Thao, helping him obtain a construction job. Walt also rescues Thao's sister, Sue, from being raped by three African American gangsters. Despite his initial prejudices, Walt bonds with the Vang Lor family. With his cough worsening, Walt consults a doctor who provides a dismal prognosis, which he conceals.
After the gang assaults Thao on his way home from work, Walt physically assaults a member as a warning. In retaliation, the gang beats and rapes Sue, and then injures Thao in a drive-by shooting. Out of fear, the family refuses to report the crimes. The following day, an enraged Thao seeks Walt's help to exact revenge; Walt convinces him to return later that day. Walt buys a suit, gets a haircut, and finally confesses to Father Janovich.
When Thao arrives, Walt takes him to his basement and gives him his Silver Star, telling him that he is haunted by the memory of killing an enemy child soldier who was trying to surrender to him, and he wants to spare Thao from shedding blood. He locks Thao in the basement and departs to the gang's residence.
When Walt arrives, the gang members draw their guns as he berates them for their crimes, drawing the attention of the neighbors. Walt puts a cigarette in his mouth, slowly reaches into his jacket pocket, and pulls his hand out quickly. Thinking Walt is brandishing a pistol, the gang members shoot and kill him. Walt's hand opens to reveal his Zippo lighter bearing the 1st Cavalry insignia. Following Walt's direction, Sue frees Thao, and they arrive at the scene. A police officer tells Thao and Sue that Walt was unarmed and that the gang members are arrested for murder. The officer goes on to say that the gang members will be going to prison for a very long time, thanks to witnesses coming forward.
Father Janovich conducts Walt's funeral, which his family, his barber, and the Hmong community attend. Afterward, Walt's last will and testament is read. Much to the dismay of Walt's family, Walt leaves his house to the church and his cherished Gran Torino to Thao, on the condition that Thao does not modify the car. Sometime later, Thao drives along Detroit's Jefferson Avenue with Daisy at his side.
Cast
Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski Bee Vang as Thao Vang Lor, a Hmong teenager Ahney Her as Sue Lor, Thao's older sister Christopher Carley as Father Janovich Doua Moua as Fong "Spider", Thao's cousin Sonny Vue as Smokie, Spider's right-hand man Elvis Thao as Hmong Gangbanger No. 1 Brian Haley as Mitch Kowalski, Walt's older son Brian Howe as Steve Kowalski, Walt's younger son Geraldine Hughes as Karen Kowalski, Mitch's wife Dreama Walker as Ashley Kowalski, Mitch and Karen's daughter Michael E. Kurowski as Josh Kowalski, Mitch and Karen's son John Carroll Lynch as Martin, an Italian-American barber friend of Walt's Chee Thao as Grandma Vang Lor, the matriarch of Thao's family Choua Kue as Youa, Thao's eventual girlfriend Scott Eastwood as Trey, Sue's date Xia Soua Chang as Kor Khue, the Hmong shaman
After holding casting calls in Fresno, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Saint Paul, Minnesota, Eastwood selected ten Hmong lead actors and supporting actors. Of them, only one was not a first-time actor. Of the Hmong cast, five, including Bee Vang, one of the principal actors, were from the state of Minnesota. Ahney Her comes from Lansing, Michigan. The casting agency Pound & Mooney recruited thirty actors and over five hundred extras. The firm recruited many Hmong actors from a Hmong soccer tournament in Macomb County, Michigan. Sandy Ci Moua, a Hmong actress based in the Twin Cities, assisted with the film's casting of Hmong actors.
Production Gran Torino was written by Nick Schenk and directed by Clint Eastwood. It was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, Media Magik Entertainment and Malpaso Productions for film distributor Warner Bros. Pictures. Eastwood co-produced with his Malpaso partners Robert Lorenz and Bill Gerber. Eastwood has stated he enjoyed the idea "that it dealt with prejudice, that it was about never being too old to learn".
Shooting began in July 2008. Hmong crew, production assistants, consultants, and extras were used. The film was shot over five weeks. Editors Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach cut the film so it was under two hours long. The crew spent over $10 million while shooting the film in Detroit.
In the early 1990s, Schenk had become acquainted with the history and culture of the Hmong while working in a factory in Minnesota. He had learned how they had sided with the South Vietnamese forces and its US allies during the Vietnam War, only to wind up in refugee camps, at the mercy of North Vietnamese Communist forces, when US troops pulled out and the government forces were defeated. Years later, he was deciding how to develop a story involving a widowed Korean War veteran trying to handle the changes in his neighborhood when he decided to place a Hmong family next door and create a culture clash. He and Dave Johannson, Schenk's brother's roommate, created an outline for the story. According to Schenk, each night he used a pen and paper to write the script while in Grumpy's, a bar in Northeast Minneapolis, after working at his day jobs. He recalled writing 25 pages within a single night in the bar. He recalled asking the bartender, who was his friend, questions about the story's progress. Some industry insiders told Schenk that a film starring an elderly main character could not be produced, as the story could not be sold, especially with an elderly main character who used language suggesting that he held racist views. Through a friend, Schenk sent the screenplay to Warner Bros. producer Bill Gerber. Eastwood was able to direct and star on the project as filming for Invictus was delayed to early 2009, leaving sufficient time for filming Gran Torino during the previous summer. Eastwood said that he had a "fun and challenging role, and it's an oddball story."
According to Schenk, aside from changing Minneapolis references to Detroit references, the production headed by Eastwood "didn't change a single syllable" in the script. Schenk added that the concept of the producers not making any substantial revisions to a submitted script "never happens." Eastwood said that he stopped making significant revisions after attempting to change the script of Unforgiven and later deciding to return to the original revision, believing that his changes were "emasculating" the product.
Selection of Detroit for production and setting The original script was inspired by the Northeast community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, but filmmakers chose to shoot in Michigan, becoming one of the first productions to take advantage of the state's new law that provided lucrative incentive packages to film productions. Bill Huizenga, from Zeeland, Michigan, who once served in the Michigan House of Representatives, helped write and coordinate the State of Michigan's incentive package to the film creators. The film ultimately received a 42-percent tax credit. Bruce Headlam of The New York Times wrote: "That helped make it easy for Warner Bros. to sign off on bankrolling the movie, something that hasn't always been a given in the studio's relationship with the director."
Producer Robert Lorenz said that while the script was originally set in Minnesota, he chose Michigan as the final setting because Kowalski is a retired car plant worker. Metro Detroit was the point of origin of the Ford Motor Company. Schenk said that sometimes the lines in the movie feel out of place with the Detroit setting; for instance a line about one of Walt's sons asks if Walt still knows a person who has season tickets for Minnesota Vikings games was changed to being about a person with Detroit Lions tickets. Schenk said: "They don't sell out in Detroit. And so that bothered me. It seemed really untrue to me."
Shooting locations
Locations, all within Metro Detroit, included Highland Park, Center Line, Warren, Royal Oak, and Grosse Pointe Park. The house depicting Walt Kowalski's house is on Rhode Island Street in Highland Park. The Hmong gang house is located on Pilgrim Street in Highland Park. The house depicting the residence of one of Walt's sons is on Ballantyne Road in Grosse Pointe Shores. The church used in the film, Saint Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, is in Grosse Pointe Park. The hardware store, Pointe Hardware, is also in Grosse Pointe Park. VFW Post 6756, used as the location where Walt meets friends to drink alcohol, is in Center Line.
The barber shop, Widgren's Barber Shop, is along 11 Mile Road, near Center Street, in Royal Oak. The shop, founded in 1938, in a space now occupied by another business, moved to its current location, west of its original location, in 1970. The film producers selected that shop out of sixty candidates in Metro Detroit. According to Frank Mills, the son-in-law of owner Ted Widgren, the producers selected it because they liked "the antique look inside." Eastwood asked Widgren to act as an extra in the barber shop scene. In the area around the barbershop, vehicle traffic had to be stopped for three to five minutes at a time, so traffic in the area slowed down.
The last shot of the film, over which the end credits roll and the eponymous title song plays, sung by Eastwood and Jamie Cullum, shows the Gran Torino driven along Lake Shore Drive, which runs alongside Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Farms and Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, and disappearing into the distance.
Shooting and acting