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‘Gran Torino’ falls short on depiction of HmongLast updated 12-31-08 at 12:10 p.m.
For all their fascinating culture and history, Hmong rarely get depicted
on film. The Internet Movie Database, with listings for
roughly 755,000 films and TV shows, lists only
four movies featuring the Hmong language. Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, “Gran
Torino,” should bring Hmong Americans and its culture to light.
Unfortunately, it settles for superficial views. Within 10 minutes of Eastwood being on screen,
he curses his Hmong next-door neighbors as “swamp rats.” Over
the film’s 116 minutes, he’ll throw in such anti-Asian slurs
as “jungle people,” “gooks,” “chinks,” “Charlie
Chan,” and the all-purpose “barbarians.” Walt Kowalski, Eastwood’s character, hisses hate incessantly
through his clenched teeth. We’re supposed to tell from inflection whether he’s simply
being hateful or showing grudging admiration to his targets, but it
all sounds the same. That’s the movie’s first mistake. Kowalski fought in Korea and watched Koreans kill
his friends. He killed back. He came home and worked on a
Detroit assembly line. The world passed him by. His wife, his dog,
and his vintage Ford Gran Torino became his life’s only treasures. As the movie opens, Walt has lost his wife. He’s also lost
his bearings. His sons grew up to be strangers. His granddaughter
wears a belly ring to the funeral and gripes about her cell phone. She’s
an impossibly obnoxious girl. Again and again, the script gives us characters
that are simply too extreme to capture our belief or hold our interest. He has a sense of humor and a dedication to better
himself. What he lacks is the street smarts needed to survive his rough
neighborhood. A Hmong street gang drives by and bails him out from the
Latino gang. “Gran Torino” offers no distincition between the Black,
Latino, or Hmong gangs. They all cruise, flash guns, flash secret
hand signs, and talk like they learned their lingo out of somebody else’s
movie. The narrative never explains the differences,
if any, between Hmong and non-Hmong gang cultures. Kowalski wonders where “Hmong” is and has to be told that “Hmong” is
not a country. The Hmong forged their way through
the ages without ever having a country to call
their own. They settled in parts of Laos, Thailand,
and China. They also came to the United States
after President Nixon used them as covert soldiers
during the Vietnam War. Upfront and brassy, she shares her brother’s intelligence but
bolsters it with confidence. She invites Kowalski to a Hmong barbecue
at the house next door which she shares with her
brother and several generations of family. Kowalski wades through embarrassing mistakes, such
as affectionately rubbing a small child on the
head. Touching any Hmong on the head is a major
gaffe. So is staring into someone’s
eyes. As Kowalski learns, the film’s audience also learns.
But the party feels like a step-by-step humanities
lecture, not a fully fleshed social gathering. Actors Vang and Her, both making their movie debuts,
show they’re worth watching in the future. But it will take another
film with a deeper focus, to show us Hmong, American or otherwise, as people, and not simply as a people. (end) “Gran Torino” plays at the Alderwood, Lincoln Square, Meridian 16, and other Seattle-area theaters. Check local listings for prices and showtimes. Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com. |
ON THE SHELF
• Novel about 'intentional loser' good for laughs but little elsePHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST WINNERS |
“Gran
Torino” is directed by Clint Eastwood and distributed
by Warner Bros. 
By Andrew Hamlin
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