The movie is set in a declining, working-class neighborhood of Detroit, where Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) lives as a recently widowed, and still grieving, retired Ford factory worker. The pride of his life is a mint-condition 1972 Ford Gran Torino he keeps in his garage. Immigrants from Laos, Hmong people, are moving into the neighborhood and one extended family move in next door. At first Kowalski is hostile and racist. However as the movie progresses and he gets to know his neighbors, he softens, and he (Eastwood) their becomes protector and defender from surrounding gangs.
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| Walt Kowalski defends himself and his new Hmong neighbors |
Tension builds, but the final showdown is out of character for Eastwood and quite unexpected. Instead of taking life, Kowalski faces down a well-armed gang, and gives his bullet-ridden body and life for his friends. As the camera swings up and over his slain body, we see an unmistakable cruciform pose.
Three “theories” of the atonement of the death have predominated over Christian history: the classic, the moral influence, and the objective satisfaction. According to the first, the cross is the means by which Christ conquers death and the forces of evil. According to the second, the cross is the means by which Christ wins our hearts; according to the third, the cross is the means by which justice is served by a costly payment for sin being made.
One can make the case that all three theories of the atonement are shown in Gran Torino. Walt Kowalski essentially tricks the violent gang members into killing him in public, surrounded by many witnesses to his murder. They are arrested by the police, a sure sign that they have been rendered powerless and no longer able to create fear in others. That’s the classic theory.
Walt will his his precious automobile to the young picked on neighbor next door, and as the movie ends we see the young man driving it along the Lake Michigan waterfront, with Walt’s dog beside him. He is now empowered to differentiate himself from the bad influences of the neighborhood and inspired to live a life that will make the one who died for him proud. That’s the moral influence theory.
We cannot equate Walt Kowalski with Christ, but his action gives some understanding to the objective satisfaction theory. Why did Kowalski sacrifice his life? As the movie continues we discover that he is a Korean veteran tortured by memories of killing a helpless young soldier at pointblank range. This memory haunts him every day. So he offers himself to similar in appearance Hmong immigrants as an act of compensation. Sin cannot be blown off, it must be atoned by a commensurate sacrifice. In the end a guilt-stricken and bitter man, bearing this weight of his past, makes his peace by giving his life for his friends next door.
If you haven’t seen Gran Torino I highly recommend it and I would love to hear from you about any questions or concerns you have about the Atonement.
- Jeffrey
