Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)

[Jeff]

77-year-old Clint Eastwood makes movies more frequently than I do my laundry:

Clint Eastwood will next direct and star in "Gran Torino" for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures. Pic is skedded for a December release.

"Torino" marks the first time Eastwood has appeared on screen since "Million Dollar Baby," released in late 2004.

Details of "Torino" are being kept under tantalizingly tight wraps. Existence of the film, and Eastwood's role, were only revealed on Tuesday when Warner quietly dated the movie for sometime in December.

Producers are Rob Lorenz, Eastwood's partner at Malpaso Prods., and Billy Gerber. Exec producers are Jenette Kahn and Adam Richman at Double Nickel Ent.

It's unclear when the movie will begin shooting, or if it has already begun production. Eastwood is known for quick production turnarounds.

"Torino" means Eastwood will be theaters twice in a short period with films he has directed. On Nov. 7, Universal and Imagine open Eastwood's Angelina Jolie starrer "Changeling," a child abduction drama.

Eastwood last directed companion films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Also for Warner, Eastwood is set to direct Nelson Mandela pic "The Human Factor." That project is in development.

According to a certain mostly unreliable source, it's a new Dirty Harry picture.

[Highway 61]

I'm shocked at how many people are actually hoping for this to indeed be another Dirty Harry. The same folks who laugh at Ford in Indy 4 want Clint, older than Ford by a decade and change, to do another Dirt Harry!? Ridiculous.

[Cold Bishop]

If it's a self-reflexive final Dirty Harry film where he examines the violent nature of the character and his symbol as an action film icon and yadda yadda yadda it might not be the completely terrible idea that it seems to be.

But then again, the movie is called GranTorino.

[Jeff]

FilmJerk says that rather than being another Dirty Harry entry, it may be:

a simple, quiet and compelling drama about Walt (Eastwood), a rural bigot who finds his outlook on life changed after a family of Hmong immigrants move in to the home next to his own, striking up a friendship with the family's teenaged son Tao over the older man's now-classic car.

[Nothing]

Hmong immigrants? Where on earth does that come from? So his outlook is changed when they sell him some poppy and he joins the CIA?

[THX1378]

No one can make up their minds at all if this is a Dirty Harry film or not. First Dark Horizons reports this that the Dirty Harry rumors have been confirmed.

Then there is this tidbit about that Eastwood wants to make one last action film.

Point being that maybe will get two films out of this. The said film about the begot and the immigrant family that moves in next door, and a Dirty Harry film. Maybe they released these rumors to see how people would react to a new Harry film.

If it's a self-reflexive final Dirty Harry film where he examines the violent nature of the character and his symbol as an action film icon and yadda yadda yadda it might not be the completely terrible idea that it seems to be.

If Eastwood is going to do a new Harry film, I would think that he would make something like this. Id love to see a Harry film where he comes out of retirement, only to find out that he's no better than the people he goes after.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Point being that maybe will get two films out of this. The said film about the begot and the immigrant family that moves in next door, and a Dirty Harry film. Maybe they released these rumors to see how people would react to a new Harry film.

"Would anyone watch a new Dirty Harry movie?"
"Gosh I dunno, lwe'd better leak some conflicting information and see how people react."

I hope the other rumor is true; I guess this might come off as knee-jerk "anti-mainstream" sniping, but while I like the first couple of DH films I think Eastwood's long since moved beyond that. The other story could easily slip in bathos, but you could've said the same thing about A Perfect World and look how that turned out.

Hmong immigrants? Where on earth does that come from? So his outlook is changed when they sell him some poppy and he joins the CIA?

Hahahahah right on man!!!!!!! Do you have any good jokes about lowriders?

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Moviehole clears up the confusion over whether this is a Dirty Harry movie or not.

[Joe Buck]

I thought "Blood Work" was a nice final installment of "Clint the gritty cop" films. Kinda like "Dirty Harry collects Social Security". I think the film was underrated. It's a pretty entertaining film.

[flyonthewall2983]

I didn't think it was too bad either. It was a good compliment to Space Cowboys, while not a cop film had some of the same of what you were referring to.

[domino harvey]

I've always had a soft spot for Absolute Power myself

[flyonthewall2983]

He's never really made a bad film, in my opinion. The stinkers he's been in were usually the work of someone else.

[Gator]

Part two of an MTV chat with Eastwood. Some further details on Torino, Changeling & the prospect of retirement:

Clint Eastwood On 'Changeling' With Angelina Jolie, 'Gran Torino' And Reuniting With Morgan Freeman

Actor/director says he thinks about retirement, but he enjoys working too much.

By Josh Horowitz

It's tempting to qualify Clint Eastwood as the finest filmmaker still working in his or her late 70s, but it somehow diminishes what he's been able to accomplish. Just look at his work in the last two decades: "Unforgiven," "Mystic River," "Million Dollar Baby," "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." Take out the age qualifier and ask any film lover: He's one of the best, period.

And while he's happy to look back (check out part one of our Eastwood interview all about the new "Dirty Harry" DVD), it's very clear his eye is on the future. With "The Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie, set for a fall release, he's about to shoot another film astoundingly also set for release in just a few months, "Gran Torino."

Little has been known about the project until now. Eastwood revealed to MTV News why "Torino" inspired him to act again, why Jolie was cast in "Changeling" and whether he's entertaining thoughts of retirement.

MTV: It was rumored that the next film you're going to direct, "Gran Torino," would be another Dirty Harry film.

Clint Eastwood: "Gran Torino" is a different sort of thing. He's more of a retired Sergeant Highway [from "Heartbreak Ridge"] than he is a Dirty Harry.

MTV: You spoke about essentially coming out of retirement only to do the "Million Dollar Baby" role. Why did "Gran Torino" lure you back again?

Eastwood: It speaks to prejudice and understanding and generational gaps. I can understand how this guy feels. It's very cleverly laid out. It's a guy who's lived in the same neighborhood for 50 years among all people of his nationality, and all of a sudden, it's become a different neighborhood. And he has a difficult time adjusting to a lot of things in his life. But then he ends up befriending some people and becoming very involved. It's a nice idea.

MTV: You haven't been directed by another director in 15 years. That's shocking to me.

Eastwood: Yeah, I don't know why that was. It was "In the Line of Fire." I was always developing projects that I was intrigued by. That became interesting for me. [They offered] "In the Line of Fire" to me to direct and act in. I had just finished "Unforgiven" and didn't want to both act and direct right away.

MTV: Would you say this is the most gratifying period of your professional life?

Eastwood: I'd say so, yeah. I've enjoyed directing a lot. I've done it for 38 years. I think now that I'm not thinking about acting, it becomes more logical. By and large, I've been trying to fight my way off-camera, where I can stand around in comfortable shoes and never have to worry about wardrobe.

MTV: You have "The Changeling" coming out with Angelina Jolie. Was casting her your idea?

Eastwood: They would have gone with whoever I wanted. [Brian] Grazer and Ron Howard were the ones who sent it to me, and they asked who I liked. They said Angelina Jolie is someone who's very interested in it. Her face is one that works both contemporarily and in a period. And so I said, "Yeah, let's go with her." It was kind of a no-brainer. I've worked with a lot of wonderful actresses. I can't say I've worked with anybody more professional.

MTV: And you're going to be reteaming with Morgan Freeman, directing him as Nelson Mandela in "The Human Factor"?

Eastwood: Yes, that's something we're talking about doing around the first of next year. Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. It's a very good script.

MTV: Is there any role in that for you?

Eastwood: Nope. "Gran Torino" is a short movie. It's very condensed. It won't take very long. I'll do that one for me and then I'm back ...

MTV: In the comfortable shoes?

Eastwood: ... in the comfortable shoes behind the camera. Maybe forever. But you never say never.

MTV: You haven't even shot "Gran Torino," but it's supposed to come out later this year. How and why do you work so quickly?

Eastwood: I think it comes from the forefathers in the movie business. People used to make a lot of films, more than they do now. Sometimes it's a fear factor. They're afraid to step forward. They're afraid to fail. You can't sit there thinking, "Who's going to go see this?" I can't worry about that. I just have to do the best I can and make it.

MTV: Some of your friends have opted for retirement. It hit me the other day that we will probably never see another new Gene Hackman movie. That's a sad thing.

Eastwood: It is a sad thing. I know his agent and I saw him recently, and he said, "Can't you talk Gene into coming back?" I said, "I'd love to see him come back, but I think it's not very nice to ride him." He's too good an actor not to be performing, but by the same token, he probably thinks that's enough.

MTV: Is there anything else you're itching to direct after these next two?

Eastwood: We're talking about a couple other things, but these next two will keep me busy for a while and then maybe ... who knows? Everybody asks me if I've thought about retirement. Every once in a while I think maybe this is enough. I'll smell the roses. But to me, working is smelling the roses.

[Jeff]

Discussion of The Human Factor has been moved over here.

[Antoine Doinel]

Here's the official (if still somewhat vague) synopsis for the film.

[Gator]

Eastwood puts his scowl in high gear for 'Gran Torino'

Eastwood is still finishing the movie, but it already is regarded as a stealth Oscar contender given his recent track record of Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Letters From Iwo Jima. The first trailer for Gran Torino can be seen this weekend before Eastwood's Changeling.

His Gran Torino character is Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War veteran whose prized possession is a classic car that catches the eye of local gangs in his Detroit neighborhood. One of the troubled kids who covets the vehicle is from a family of Hmong immigrant neighbors, whom Kowalski has long resented.

The story comes down to two objects (three if you count the scowl): his 1972 Ford muscle car and his M-1 rifle.

"That's the weapon he has had left over since being in the service," Eastwood says. "And the same weapon I had when I was in the Army."

Eastwood also served during the Korean War, and though he wasn't in combat, he says: "I still know how to operate it. Field strip it …"

He chuckles.

Apart from that slight parallel, Eastwood has little in common with Kowalski. "He worked on the line in the Ford plant and retired and had this one car he bought himself. It's sort of a symbol of his days with the Ford plant. The M-1 is sort of a symbol of his days in the military. … He's clinging to the memory of the war. You'll find out when you see it, some of (the memories) are not as pleasant as others. That helps make him even tougher to get along with."

Newcomer Bee Vang, a 17-year-old Hmong American originally from the Minneapolis area, was cast as the neighbor boy who strikes up a mutually reluctant relationship with Walt.

"The young kid, as part of a gang initiation, tries to steal it, and the old guy gets him at the end of the M-1, which becomes kind of a big deal," Eastwood says. "The kid has to do penance because of the pride of the Asian group. They make him do penance. He has to come over, and the old guy doesn't want anything to do with him, doesn't want him anywhere around."

The fastest way to rid himself of the boy, Kowalski decides, is to cooperate.

"Walt helps him get a job and helps him toughen up a bit," Eastwood says. "(Walt) doesn't work construction. He's retired. But he gets the boy in through a buddy, an old crony. They take him in and try to show him how to handle himself in life."

"The old guy," as Eastwood calls his character, ends up confronting prejudices that have isolated him.

"It's got a lot of twists and turns in the story," indicating some darker moments. "It also has some good laughs."

Eastwood is producing, directing and even composing music for movies at an age when other filmmakers would be retired. Acting is the only area in which he has cut back.

"Yeah, it'll probably be my last," he says of Gran Torino. "I'll be drummed out of it after this one."

After more than 50 years and dozens of iconic characters, could he be serious?

That familiar dry voice on the phone turns into a chuckle. "Nah, I'm just kidding."

[domino harvey]

Wow, that sounds unbearably maudlin

[Antoine Doinel]

The poster makes it look like another Dirty Harry movie.

[exte]

77-year-old Clint Eastwood makes movies more frequently than I do my laundry

LMFAO!

[Matt]

Wow, that sounds unbearably maudlin

The characters in Clint's movies have been getting increasingly weepy. Million Dollar Baby was pretty restrained, but Flags of Our Fathers was a sob-fest for Adam Beach. And Changeling looks like it out to be retitled Angie Screams and Cries for Two Hours.

The movies have also been getting increasingly drained of color and higher in contrast. Clint, why do you hate color?

But hey, the writer was one of the writers of "Let's Bowl!" This movie can't be that bad, then.

[Anhedionisiac]

Trailer

Me sorta likey.

Might have to do with my seeing it with the volume on mute, though.

[Antoine Doinel]

The trailer makes it look like another Dirty Harry movie.

[HypnoHelioStaticStasis]

Actually, that trailer makes the film seem a lot more interesting than the premise would suggest. This really does feel like an extension of "Dirty Harry," I can see why Eastwood would be so interested in it.

That's not to say certain elements don't seem hackneyed (A priest? Really?), but I'm intrigued. And is it just me, or is Clint's voice so ravaged that its unearthly?

[knives]

He sounds like what Bale's bat will by the end of the third. This will probably be more cheesy then Eastwood's most recent, but in a good way.

[Highway 61]

Did Eastwood rush this into production before or after Spike Lee's charges of racism?