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Gran Torino: Film Review

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Gran Torino: Film Review
Gliederung:
1. Einführung
2. Kurze Inhaltangabe
3. Charaktere
Nebencharaktere
Walt Kowalski
4. Background information
Detroit City
Hmong in Detroit
5. Message of the story

1. present the movie Gran Torino released 2008
Produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood

2. The movie Gran Torino deals with the story of Walt Kowalski, played by producer and director Clint Eastwood. Walt is a crabby, lonely and conservative widower, who fought on the side of America in the Korean War. Now he is living in a suburb of Detroit City, where also many Asian people live. To his bad luck another Asian family, the Lors, become his neighbors. The boy Thao Lor is forced to join his cousin’s gang and as test he has to steal Walt’s Gran Torino, but Walt catches him. As a consequence Thao must help him with the house chores, which gets Walt to know his Asian neighbors better. Now Walt is involved in the conflict between Thao and his cousin and tries to disabuse them, by threatening one of the gang members after they have attacked Thao. After that the gang is taking vengeance by shooting at the Lor’s house and raping their daughter Sue. To end the conflict Walt goes to the gang’s house and makes them shoot him by tricking them. As a result the gang members are sent to prison and the Lor family can live on in peace.
3. Thao: teenager, shy, father dead, loves his sister and his mother, hardworking, honest
Sue: teenager but older than Thao, quick on the comeback,
Lor family: traditional, pleasant.
Thao’s cousin: rebellious, gang-leader, rude
Kowalskis: unthankful, sneaky
4. The movie has conveys 2 messages
You shouldn’t judge people on first sight, culture and orgin

Walt Kowalski: first sight – typical crabby war veteran who is prejudiced against everybody who is not American. On second thought he is a versatile character. He is traumatized by his experiences of the war and as a result he is very distant to people he does not know. This makes him
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