I can count the number of movies I have seen in the theater in the past five years on my two hands. I have not made much time for movies since having my daughter. Please forgive me if this is really old news for the rest of you.
Jeff ordered the movie Gran Torino from Netflix and we viewed it this weekend. The acting stinks, save for Clint Eastwood who plays a racist, irreverent, Korean war veteran/former Ford plant worker/widower/Detroiter.
The movie is a touching story about Clint’s character (Walt Kowalski) who remains in his home in Detroit, despite the fact that the neighborhood has transitioned into a Hmong community, a people group whose name he cannot even properly pronounce. Okay, so maybe touching is not the right word. It’s touching and horrifying at the same time.
When I used to be a part of leading the Detroit Urban Plunge trips with InterVarsity for spring break, we heard about this Hmong population in Detroit during a history presentation, but I had never actually experienced it for myself. In fact, the first Hmong people I met were from Wisconsin. Nonetheless, there is a notable population of Hmong people in the Detroit area.
The movie was really filmed in Detroit over the course of 33 days. You will see some real scenes from Detroit and will probably learn some things about the Hmong people from the story. It’s worth a watch, but be prepared for the racism and dirty language of a cranky old man.
blogDetroit 
mmm… i’ll rent this soon
this is a great movie. a bunch of CCFers were involved with project lighthouse, a detroit mentorship program that worked with hmong high school students. actually, one of ben low’s students is in the video!
er – movie!
I remember Project Lighthouse. Did not really remember it was about Hmong students. Do you know which character is played by Ben’s student?