Director's Influence

Gran Torino is a 2008 American drama film directed, produced and starring Clint Eastwood, who produced many notable movies.The other features determining the drama of the film are that the main character Walt Kowalski played by Clint Eastwood is a Korean War Vet who has lost his wife and treats his family and neighbors harshly. Kowalski lives by poor Asian immigrants who he dramatically learns to defend. Another film this movie connects to could be the other film he has directed and starred in Million Dollar Baby. Eastwood in both films has a similar character in which he softens and learns to accept those in need of his help. Clint Eastwood directed this film and it was written by Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson. It was written to portray the struggles of Asian Americans who are constantly disregarded, when speaking about struggles in society. Eastwood fights against Asian's in the Korean War, but overcomes his hatred for them opening up and accepting a boy constantly antagonized. We can tell that the movies creators desired to express to its viewers that any man who sees a family in trouble even if he has lost the thing to live for (his wife) has enough heart to help those in need. This fits with Eastwood's other works because the narrative is similar to Million Dollar Baby. In both instances Eastwood opens up to the main characters after being antagonizing to them. I think some shots overlap with the two movies because many waist shots are used effectively with Eastwood and the respective main character in each film confronting each other. I think this film's theme is that racism is overcome by a character who see's hardships that one constantly endures. The target audience is older teens and adults who seek the knowledge of abused Asian immigrants, who encounter constant run-ins with a gang, and in which the antagonist of the film Eastwood transitions to the protagonist.