Screen/Society--2013 Ethics Films Series--"Gran Torino"

Monday, January 14, 2013 - 2:00pm to 4:15pm
Screen/Society--2013 Ethics Films Series--"Gran Torino"

Film Screening:

 

Gran Torino
(Clint Eastwood, 2008, 116 min, USA, in English and Hmong with English subtitles, Color, DVD).

-- Discussion to follow w/ Prof. Marianna Torgovnick!

Set in Detroit, Michigan, Gran Torino was the first mainstream U.S. film to feature Hmong Americans. Many Lao Hmong war refugees resettled in the U.S. following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975. The story follows Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), a recently widowed Korean War veteran alienated from his family and angry at the world. Walt's young neighbor, Thao Vang Lor, is pressured into stealing Walt's prized 1972 Ford Gran Torino by his cousin for his initiation into a gang. Walt thwarts the theft and subsequently develops a relationship with the boy and his family.

Gran Torino was a critical and commercial success, grossing nearly $270 million worldwide (making it Eastwood's most successful film ever).

About the 2013 Ethics Film Series:
Taking the theme "Love and Justice," each film in this series explores how individuals - both alone and in context of their communities - engage the tension between the demands of justice and the grace of love.

Cost: Free and Open to the Public!

Sponsors: The Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI), and the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS)

Bryan Center Griffith Film Theater