Introduction:
The film Gran Torino (2008), directed by and starring Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski tells the story of a racist war veteran whose cold and bitter heart is thawed through his interactions with his Hmong neighbors by using classic film technique to explore the importance of family. This inspires a great change in the way he treated them, his own family and even himself. Eastwood uses the beginning and ending to highlight this change through symbolism, camera angles and dialogue.
Para 1: Starting scenes
In the opening funeral scene, we see a close up shot of Walt’s sour expression and relentless glare whilst standing next to his wife ’s coffin, which then cuts to a mid-shot of his son Mitch whispering to his brother that “There’s nothing you can do that won’t disappoint the old man”. This gives the viewer the impression that the father-son relationship is strained- an …show more content…
Walt starts to see that Thao is different form the other teenagers in the scene where the old lady dropped her shopping on the ground and the other teenagers walked past, Thao went and helped her take them inside, Walt said “how about that”. When Walt was at the Hmong’s place for a BBQ he fitted in with them, we can see this in the mid-shot of the entire family with him holding a beer which indicates that he is enjoying himself. When he goes to the restroom he said “I have more in common with these gooks than my own spoilt, rotten family” this indicates that he has created a strong bond with the Hmong’s better than his own family. Thao’s Mum made him work for Walt in order to repay for trying to steal his car, this is the main part of the movie where they are like father/son. We can see this in the wide angle shot in the garage with all the tools in the background and them having a meaningful conversation eye to
The film Gran Torino (2008), directed by and starring Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski tells the story of a racist war veteran whose cold and bitter heart is thawed through his interactions with his Hmong neighbors by using classic film technique to explore the importance of family. This inspires a great change in the way he treated them, his own family and even himself. Eastwood uses the beginning and ending to highlight this change through symbolism, camera angles and dialogue.
Para 1: Starting scenes
In the opening funeral scene, we see a close up shot of Walt’s sour expression and relentless glare whilst standing next to his wife ’s coffin, which then cuts to a mid-shot of his son Mitch whispering to his brother that “There’s nothing you can do that won’t disappoint the old man”. This gives the viewer the impression that the father-son relationship is strained- an …show more content…
Walt starts to see that Thao is different form the other teenagers in the scene where the old lady dropped her shopping on the ground and the other teenagers walked past, Thao went and helped her take them inside, Walt said “how about that”. When Walt was at the Hmong’s place for a BBQ he fitted in with them, we can see this in the mid-shot of the entire family with him holding a beer which indicates that he is enjoying himself. When he goes to the restroom he said “I have more in common with these gooks than my own spoilt, rotten family” this indicates that he has created a strong bond with the Hmong’s better than his own family. Thao’s Mum made him work for Walt in order to repay for trying to steal his car, this is the main part of the movie where they are like father/son. We can see this in the wide angle shot in the garage with all the tools in the background and them having a meaningful conversation eye to