Few films have the title of a car. Even less, that of the first capital of Italy. The only case is "Gran Torino" (2008), directed and starring Clint Eastwood.
It is a high-level work, dry and raw, delicate and moving, a mirror of the personality, ethical and moral convictions of the great man of American cinema.
It is a film that, combining the loneliness of old age to the difficulty of understanding the other, the "different" become our "neighbor". (from Latin: whoever is close to you), comes to the observation, that there exist for men of goodwill, values such as righteousness, friendship, solidarity, defense of the weakest, for whom, in every season of life, and at every latitude, it is worth committing oneself, even by sacrificing oneself.
As in other Eastwood films, "Gran Torino" is pervaded by a melancholy that is never honey-like, but rather robust, proud and dignified, a true reflection of how difficult life is for everyone wherever they are born and live.
The acceptance of what we could define as not forgetting the point of view of others Eastwood had already well explained as a director in "Flags of Our Fathers" and in "Letters from Iwo Jima" shot simultaneously but then distributed individually with the two titles mentioned above. The first was released in 2006, the second the following year. Both works tell the story of the battle for Iwo Jima, Pacific Island, which took place in 1945 between February 19 and March 26. "Flags of Our Fathers" analyzes the story by presenting it on the side of the invaders, the Americans; "Letters from Iwo Jima" of that of the defenders, the Japanese, narrating it in Japanese with English subtitles. The event, therefore, was analyzed by two distinct optics not for banal balancing, but for respect between the contenders.
"Gran Torino" has a different perspective. It is the story of a man, Walt Kowalski, played by Eastwood, of Polish origin. He is a pensioner, a recently widowed man, afflicted by a remorse originating from his past. He has two children. He has little contact with them, also because he considers the male, a seller of Japanese cars, to be a traitor to the US four-wheeled industry. His only company is a white Labrador dog, also of age. The man worked as a worker on the Ford assembly line in Detroit. He consumes his days keeping his single-family house in the suburbs tidy, the classic American one-story house with a small garden and a veranda from were, hanging on a chair when he rests, he consumes smoking beers, despite being ill in his lungs. He has only one friend, his barber, Italian of origin, with whom he has a rough and affectionate relationship. He keeps his 1972 Ford Gran Torino like a jewel in the garage, of which he says he is proud to have mounted the steering component in the factory when it was prepared on the line. For him, it's not just a car. It's much more: it's a symbol and testimony of his work, of how and how hard he worked, doing his duty, with dedication. Walt in the bedroom has placed another piece of his memory: the military trunk. Inside, in addition to various memorabilia, is kept the M1 Garand rifle that accompanied him during the Korean War (1950-1953). Of that time it also preserves, and still uses, a zippo, decorated with the coat of arms of the First Division of U.S. Cavalry among whose ranks it fought during the conflict.
His loneliness is also aggravated by the fact that in the neighborhood is now the only American left: unique in the street, is affixed on the veranda, a large flag stars and stripes. All around the buildings are inhabited by an Asian community of Hmong ethnicity, forced to take refuge in the U.S. after the Vietnam War precisely because, in the conflict, she had been on the side of the Americans. But Walt doesn't know this and labels it, like John Wayne, the Asian group, as "yellow faces". In essence, he tolerates them with narrow teeth.
But everything changes one evening. In the garden of the neighbors Hmong, a scuffle breaks out. The quarrels break into Walt's lawn. To defend "his ground", he takes up the war rifle. He points it at the Orientals. Sit the fight down.
The day after the surprise. The family of the neighbors comes to thank him, bringing flowers and delicacies from their land.
This is because, without knowing it and wanting it, the pensioner has defended the family nucleus, in particular, the young Thao, harassed by criminals, including his cousin, who wants him to join their gang, willingly or unwillingly. The homage disconcerts the gruff Walt