Gran Torino is a film directed by the great Clint Eastwood. Main characters are played by Clint Eastwood himself and Bee Vang.

Walt Kowalski is a Korean War veteran living in a neighborhood dominated by poor Asian families where gang extortion and violence is commonplace. The Hmong Vang Lor family resides next door to Walt. At first, Walt’s only desire is to be left alone, but one day, when young Thao is being attacked by the Hmong gang, Walt helps him out by threatening them with a shotgun.

From that moment on, he becomes closer to the Vang Lor family and especially to Thao. He helps him, his sister and his family. And in the end, he saves their lives by losing his own. 

American society is based on three  pillars:  mother country, family and religion.

Americans are the most patriotic people on earth, even thought their country do not take care of them. For instance, they don’t have public health, so either they have a job or medical care is not assured.  

We can observe this patriotic feeling is reflected in the huge American flag that Kowalski has in his porch. However, his neighborhood is plenty of immigrant people. And, as history shows us, immigrants have played a really important role in the United State’s development. 

Another thing that is essential for American people is family. They have a deeply- rooted sense of the family unit: you must put your relatives before anyone else. But, as Gran Torino shows us, this feeling is not reflected in everyday life. Walt Kowalski’s family does not take care of him and Walt’s sons do not put their father before football matches or beer nights, that’s for sure.

Last but not least is religion. More than 50% of the American’s population goes regularly to church and more than the 88% of the people state that they are Catholics. But, as the film shows us one more time, it is not the Catholic priest who understands Walt; it is the Mong sorcerer who really finds out how Walt is and, even more important, why is he like he is.

So, from my point of view, Eastwood’s film is a review against the clichés American society insists on defending. I think he tries to make the audience understand that appearances can be deceptive and that, definitely, people are what they do and not what they say.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

This film was directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of the great Francis Ford Coppola. Main characters are played by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. They both won BAFTA film awards for best actor and best actress.

The whole story takes place in Tokyo. Bob Harris is an aging actor who travels to Tokyo to shoot a whisky spot. In the same hotel where he stays is Charlotte, a young girl who is in Tokyo because her husband is working there as a photographer. Both Bob and Charlotte are in a foreign country where they can’t do anything but walk along, unable to understand anything or anyone. But one night they meet in the hotel bar. And during the next days they develop a bond that stays between love and friendship, and precisely because this bond is none of those feelings entirely, it is much more indestructible. 

Depending on which moment of your life you see this film, you’ll love it or you’ll just stay the same, like abstract painting. From a superficial point of view, nothing happens on this film: just two people, who meet each other, spend time together and then say goodbye. But if you know how to really watch this film, you’ll discover that silence speak more than words. 

This film goes beyond the typical movies in which two married people meet, fall in love, have sex and end up together living happily ever after. This film has nothing to do with that, because it is not that simple. They both are married; they can’t just let their partners and start a brand new life together. They have houses, jobs, and Bob even has two kids. 

All these “obstacles”, however, do not prevent Bob and Charlotte from feeling that they have found somebody special. And they know that because they run along the roads holding hands, they sing in a karaoke, they laugh, they talk until falling sleep, but they also remain silent, just being together. Apparently, they have nothing in common but, somehow they feel the same, have the same doubts and, therefore, understand each other like nobody else could. But, despite all these things, they know that that cannot and is not going to last forever.

I think this film is more beautiful than any archetypical love story. Maybe it is because there’s no happy ending, because they do not exactly fall in love. They just find somebody they like to be with. Is it love? Friendship? Or maybe it is just coincidence. But, from my experience, the best things can happen out of a coincidence: you meet somebody at the supermarket that ends up being the best friend ever; or you meet somebody at the gas station that turns out being the love of your life. But even if you get married or not, even if the relationship last seven days or your whole life, the important thing is that you get to feel like Bob and Charlotte when they are together: the happiest person on earth.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

This film, directed by Spike Jonze, was first shown in 1999. The main character is played by John Cusack. Other actors in this movie are Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and, obviously, John Malkovich.

The movie tells the story of Craig Schwartz, a man whose dream is making a living as a puppeteer.  As this is not possible, he finds work in an office. There, he discovers a small door behind a filing cabinet that leads him directly into Malkovich’s mind.

                I honestly didn’t like this film. And I definitely wouldn’t have recommended it. Maybe it was because I didn’t get the point of the plot. Or maybe it was because the plot didn’t have a point to get.

                I can’t tell what this film is about: is it about following your dreams, no matter what? Or perhaps it tries to teach us that we must be happy with what we have. Or it can also tell the story of how human being wants to get its own happiness, without worrying about others feelings. I mean, was the director trying to give the film some philosophical meaning or he just wanted to do some absurd ridiculous movie?

                In order to solve this doubt, I decided to research some critics of this film. And I must admit I was surprised because they were almost all pretty good. I read that the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, between other prizes. And I finally discovered what an independent film really is.

                An independent film, also known in the United States as an art film, is a film produced mostly outside of major film studios. The main characteristic of this kind of cinema is that the director is totally free to give his point of view, without worrying about the social conventions. He can say whatever he wants, however he wants. Inside this cinema category, we can find films like Apocalypse Now, about a man who becomes like the man he has to kill, or even this film, Being John Malkovich.

                Independent films may seem crazy or nonsense at the beginning. Maybe some of them really are nonsense. But most of them have a deeper meaning not so easy to understand. They are not like Hollywood films that tell nothing, movies that are hot air. Just like Being John Malkovich, art films are painfully realistic and dangerously critical. Independent film directors defend their right to make their own art, to tell the world how they see life. By using the script they try to describe their feelings, as if it was a personal diary. They want to make their dreams real, even if they may seem as ridiculous as puppeteering. But they are not often understood or supported. Just like Craig Schwartz himself says, speaking to a monkey: “You don’t know how lucky you are being a monkey because conscience is a terrible course. I think, I feel, I suffer. And all I ask in return is the opportunity to do my work and they won’t allow it because I raise issues”.