What does the 'Gran Torino' symbolize?
Clearly the vehicle is important. It's the title, it has it's own song, it had more screen time than "Grandma" or any of Walt's estranged children/grandchildren. So what exactly does it represent. A friend told me the car was a representation of Walt himself--both the car and Walt are old but spirited--neither is mobile (until the end). Makes a little sense to me but there's gotta be something more to it. Opinions?
Recent Films:
The Debt 8/10
Immortals 6/10
The Iron Lady 8/10
Gran Torino 9/10
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elbert107
If cars symbolized penises, you'd probably drive a Mini-Cooper, Albert.
inertjohnjunk
i am pretty sure that it is supposed to symbolize his penis.
terview
Walt's Polish forbears would have suffered from just the same sort of mistrust and prejudice that he displays towards his Hmong neighbours. It wasn't that long ago that Kowalski wasn't seen as an "American" name, or Catholicism as an "American" religion! Nice touch from Eastwood.
tboss244
I agree that the car has to do with the American Dream. The Gran Torino is a good, strong, beautiful American-built car. It is something wonderful that is still not out of the monetary reach of a blue collar auto plant-worker like Walt Kowalski. Unfortunately for Walt, after his wife dies, the only parts of his American Dream that are left are his car, his house, and his dog. It is no coincidence that Walt takes exceptional care of all three. Everything else is gone (rude, ugly American children and grandchildren, crime-infested neighborhood full of "foreigners.")
It is symbolically significant that Walt bequeaths his car, the symbol of his American dream, to a caring, hardworking Hmong boy instead of to his own racially "American" but lazy and ethically bankrupt family. Eastwood is saying that any chance at happiness in America should and does belong to good people of whatever race, not to priviledged jerks who believe that they are "owed" something by virtue of their race or social position. Added symbolism: the very American car has a foreign name--like Thao.
Also, since the Gran Torino is something that Walt loves, it is a way to show his affection for Thao, his adopted "son." Thao receives Walt's wisdom, practical know-how, and prized possessions as though they were his birthright.
Gran Torino
Released: December 12, 2008
Synopsis:
Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.