100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #82: Gran Torino (2008)

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Nick Schenk. Starring Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley

“All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it.” -Flannery O’Connor

*spoilers ahead*

Walt Kowalski is not a good person.

At the beginning of Gran Torino, he’s a bitter, irascible, lonely old man with a penchant for ethnic slurs. He despises his children and grandchildren as lazy, disrespectful brats without taking any responsibility for raising them so they got that way, and they hate him in return. He’s been living in the same Detroit neighborhood for decades, slowly watching it turn from a bastion of Polish heritage to becoming populated by the very racial groups for whom he harbors the most animus. He thinks he needs no one else in the world, and anyone looking to him for anything will get a wad of tobacco spit in their eye. Walt is not downright evil; he has some friends and you can tell he deeply loved his wife. But he’s the kind of man who long ago decided he is probably headed for hell, and abandoned God and any semblance of loving his neighbor as a consequence. He’s the kind of fusty nut who actively resists God’s grace, preferring to rely on himself alone, if not for salvation then at least just to get by here on earth.

But grace has a way of getting to you. In this case it comes from the most unlikely place: Walt’s Hmong neighbor, Thao, who attempts to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation. Thao’s cousin is trying to drag him unwillingly into a life of crime, and their coaxings and violence take them onto Walt’s property more than once. Each time, Walt meets them with a gun, growling his iconic “get off my lawn!” with his disgust and hatred on full display. However, his bristly independence inadvertently chases off the gangsters troubling Thao (temporarily), and he is disgruntled when he realizes the Hmong family credits him with saving Thao. However, by continued interaction with the family, he realizes that his values and theirs are more similar than he would have realized.

He even starts taking more of an interest in Thao, as he looks past his race and his clumsy attempt at grand theft auto and sees him as a human being, one who is attentive to his family, willing to work hard, and looking for a way out of the life of poverty and crime he seems destined for. Walt starts to help Thao, teaching him how to fix things around the house and even getting him tools and a job as a construction worker. This connection between Walt and Thao, divided so much by age and culture, is the conduit through which Walt begins to be redeemed. Thao, to be sure, gains some worldly material and experience through his relationship with Walt, which has led to the film being criticized by some as a “white savior” narrative. But it is really Walt who is being saved in this story, brought out of his cage of hatred and loneliness and growing into a more gentle person through his attempts to love his neighbor.

Unfortunately, larger forces are at play which will not allow Walt and his new friends to live in peace. Thao’s gangster cousin is displeased with his resistance, and will not let them alone. He continues to pick on and intimidate Thao and his family, coming to a head with the brutal gang rape of Thao’s sister. Thao snaps, ready to seek out revenge on these antagonists, and Walt seems to agree. From everything we’ve seen him do in the film to this point, we expect Walt to go to the gang house with his guns and take these guys down vigilante-style. As he said to a different gang earlier in the film, “Ever come across somebody you shouldn't have f——-d with?” This entire film as portrayed Walt as a man just about ready to snap, a man willing to solve his problems with violence, a man more comfortable with death than life. The Clint Eastwood cowboy shootout is coming, we can feel it.

Walt tells Thao to meet him at the house later in the day, implying that he should be ready for trouble. He goes into a scene reminiscent of the Greek epic “arming of the hero” trope, buying a new suit, getting a haircut, and finally putting his soul right with God by going to confession. He also locks Thao in the basement, preserving his life and electing to take on the gangsters alone. Walt has transformed from a crotchety old man into something like an angel of vengeance, and his character arc at this point seems complete. He has gone from disregard for his neighbor to avenger of the innocent, a role which Hollywood has sold us for years as a just and virtuous one. But it’s one which a Catholic worldview is quite uncomfortable with. Defender of the innocent, for sure, but avenger? From a Catholic point of view, he’s on the cusp of redemption but may be about to throw it all away, continuing on the path of violence and hatred that defined him in the first act of the film.

Walt arrives at the gang house and everyone is ready for trouble. The gangsters are at all the windows, pointing guns at Walt. Walt approaches the house alone, standing unafraid against his enemies. All the neighbors are watching, as are we, waiting for the final showdown, for Walt to unleash hell on the unrighteous. He stares at the house and mumbles a prayer: “Hail Mary, full of grace…” He reaches inside his suit, where we’ve seen him keep his gun before.

But instead of Walt blowing away the gangsters, he is himself blown away. The gangsters open fire and mow him down, and he falls bloody to the ground. Inside his jacket was no gun; instead, he reached for a lighter to fire up a cigarette. As a result of Walt’s sacrifice, all the gangsters are arrested for his murder, there being overwhelming evidence and many, many witnesses. Walt saves Thao and his family not through violence but through sacrifice, completing his arc of redemption through service of his neighbor. The confession and prayer add a religious dimension to this redemption arc, showing how love for neighbor can lead back to love for God.

Gran Torino is a film full of very flawed characters put in a situation which could lead to their salvation or damnation. It’s unpolished, it can be shocking, and it’s not a saccharine or sanitized story. It reminds me in many ways of the stories of Flannery O’Connor, who exposes spiritual truth through stories than can be unpleasant and characters that are infuriating as often as endearing. The redemption of Walt Kowalski is the story of all of us, mired in sin and self-interest but able to be drawn to the transcendent through love of neighbor.

“The man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to take into eternity with him.” -Flannery O’Connor

*content warning: Gran Torino has lots of profanity, especially racial slurs coming from Walt Kowalski. There are scenes of violence and themes which are definitely for mature audiences. Recommended age 18 and up.*