Gran Torino Page #4

WALT:

I got one. A Mexican, a Jew and a

colored guy walk into a bar, the

bartender looks up at them and

says --‘get the f*** out.’

The gang laughs, until they see Father Janovich step up

to the bar. He smiles as he recognizes several faces.

FATHER JANOVICH:

So, here’s where my flock

congregates when they’re not in

church.

(CONTINUED)

19.

20 CONTINUED:
20

MEL:

Hiya, Father J.

FATHER JANOVICH:

Hi, Mel. Hey there, Darrel.

DARREL:

Hello, Father.

FATHER JANOVICH:

Hi, Walt.

Walt says nothing. He just sips his beer.

DARREL:

What brings you in here, Father?

The meat raffle?

FATHER JANOVICH:

No. I came down to talk to Walt,

if that’s okay.

Mel and Darrel look at Walt. It puts him on the spot.

WALT:

I have to hand it to you, Padre.

You are persistent.

FATHER JANOVICH:

I promised your wife.

Walt looks over at Mel and Darrel and then back at Father

Janovich.

WALT:

Oh Jesus Christ, let’s grab a

booth.

21 INT. VFW BOOTH -SAME TIME 21

The waitress comes over.

WALT:

I’ll have a Pabst and a shot.

What are you having, Father?

FATHER JANOVICH:

I’ll have a Diet Coke.

WALT:

Bullshit, this is a bar, what do

you want to drink?

(CONTINUED)

20.

21 CONTINUED:
21

FATHER JANOVICH:

Ummmm... I’ll have a gin and

tonic.

WALT:

Attaboy.

The waitress leaves.

WALT:

So, what do you want?

FATHER JANOVICH:

I promised your wife I’d get you

to go to confession.

WALT:

Jesus Christ, why’d you do that?

FATHER JANOVICH:

She was very insistent. She made

me.

WALT:

You sure are fond of promising

people stuff you can’t deliver on.

FATHER JANOVICH:

Let’s talk about something else.

WALT:

Like what?

FATHER JANOVICH:

Life and death.

WALT:

What would you know about it?

FATHER JANOVICH:

I’d like to think I know a lot.

I’m a priest.

WALT:

You stand at the altar and preach

on and on about life and death

without knowing anything other

than what you learned in priest

school. Everything you say sounds

like it’s out of the Rookie

Preachers Handbook.

FATHER JANOVICH:

I don’t know about that...

(CONTINUED)

21.

21 CONTINUED:
(2) 21

Walt waves his hand and cuts him off.

WALT:

‘Death is bittersweet? Bitter in

the pain, sweet in the salvation.’

That’s what you know of life anddeath? Good God, it’s pathetic.

FATHER JANOVICH:

What do you know, Mr. Kowalski?

WALT:

Plenty. I lived with death for

three years in Korea. We shot

people, we stabbed them withbayonets, we hacked seventeen-yearold

kids to death with shovels,

for Christ’s sake. I did thingsthat won’t leave me till the day Idie, horrible things, things I

have to live with.

FATHER JANOVICH:

And what about life?

Walt has to think for a second.

answer.

He struggles with his

WALT:

Well... I survived the war... gotmarried... and raised a family.

FATHER JANOVICH:

Sounds like you know more aboutdeath than you do living.

Walt downs a shot.

Maybe so.

WALT:

22 INT. WALT’S BEDROOM -THAT SAME NIGHT 22

Walt hears a sound and wakes up.

had plenty to drink at the VFW.

He’s very groggy, he

Daisy?

WALT:

The dog sleeps in her bed in the corner.

the clock; it’s 3:48 am.

Walt looks at

Walt looks out his bedroom window.

beam of a flashlight in his garage.

He sees the faint

(CONTINUED)

22.

22 CONTINUED:
22

WALT:

Son of a b*tch.

Walt pulls on his robe, opens the closet and pulls out

the big, 30-06 M1 Garand Rifle he took home from Korea.

Walt slides a magazine into the top of the M1 and

chambers a round with a loud SNAP.

23 INT. GARAGE -SECONDS LATER 23

The light flips on and before he can blink, Tao is face

to face with the barrel of Walt’s M1 RIFLE.

Walt is silent, he has one eye closed so he can better

aim at Tao’s forehead --which is nine inches away. Tao

drops the tool he was holding, it bounces with a loud

metallic clang.

Tao backs away, his eyes wide with terror. As Tao backs

up, Walt advances, step for step.

Tao trips over a garden hose, which causes Walt to trip.

They both start to fall. The lightbulb is bumped with

the rifle barrel and swings back and forth.

As Walt hits the garage floor, he accidentally FIRES THE

RIFLE. The bullet goes through a big, metal Hamm’s Beer

sign on the wall.

Tao scrambles to his feet and jumps like a deer over

Walt. Tao runs out of the garage and into the night.

Walt lies on the floor for a second, stunned. Sweat runs

down his forehead. He coughs up blood. The lightbulb

still swings, casting odd shadows in the garage.

WALT:

Sh*t.

24 EXT. ALLEY -SAME TIME 24

Tao scrambles down the alley. Parked off to the side is

Spider’s Honda. Spider opens the door.

SPIDER:

Get in, get in!

Tao runs right past him. Spider guns the motor and pulls

in front of Tao. Smokie, Spider and another gangbanger

get out.

(CONTINUED)

23.

24 CONTINUED:
24

Get in, Tao.

SMOKIE:

No way.

alone!

TAO:

No f***ing way. Leave me

Smokie, Spider and the other gangbanger grab Tao.

SPIDER:

I vouched for you, Tao, becauseyou’re family and you’re with us

now.

Tao struggles.

TAO:

He shot at me! I’m out!

out!!!

I’m

Tao squirms out of Smokie’s grasp.

as he runs away...

Smokie yells at Tao

SMOKIE:

Don’t fool yourself, Tao. You

don’t join us and bail. Dumb

motherf***er.

SPIDER:

Should we go after him?

SMOKIE:

Naw, he’s got nowhere to go.

Let’s get out of here.

25 INT. GARAGE -AFTERNOON 25

Walt drills heavy-gauge screen mesh over the windows onthe garage. The phone rings and Walt answers.

Hello?

WALT:

MITCH (V.O.)

Morning, Dad, it’s your number oneson, Mitch.

WALT:

It’s one in the afternoon.

The CAMERA now INTERCUTS BETWEEN Walt and Mitch in the

kitchen of his huge, modern suburban house.

(CONTINUED)

24.

25 CONTINUED:
25

MITCH:

Right, good afternoon, then.

WALT:

So, what do you want?

MITCH:

Me? Nothing. What would I want?

WALT:

I don’t know. Your wife already

went through all of your mother’s

jewelry.

MITCH:

No. I was just wondering how you

are, what’s going on, anything new

in the old neighborhood?

Walt looks at the bullet hole in his Hamm’s Beer sign.

WALT:

Nope.

MITCH:

Great. Smooth sailing then?

WALT:

Yup.

There’s a very painful pause in the conversation.

MITCH:

Well good... Say, Dad?

WALT:

Uh-huh.

MITCH:

Do you still know that guy from

the plant who has Viking season

tickets?

26 EXT. WALT’S DRIVEWAY -DAY 26

Walt has parked the Gran Torino at an angle across his

driveway. Walt mutters as he rubs Turtle Wax on his car.

27 EXT. DRIVEWAY -THAT AFTERNOON 27

Walt fishes out a soft pack of cigarettes and lights one.

He exhales as he looks at his car.

(CONTINUED)

25.

27 CONTINUED:
27

It’s stunning. It absolutely sparkles. The chrome

shines, the tires look new and the paint is waxed and

polished.

Walt looks up again and his eyes sweep the neighborhood

in defiance. A couple of Hmong teenagers look at the

car.

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