Gran Torino - Movie Review Example

When main hero Walt first comes to Thao’s house as a guest he feels alienated and doesn’t speak to anybody (Miller & Vandome & McBrewster, 56). So do all the other members of the family who ignore him. He only speaks with Thao and his sister who are young and therefore don’t feel so secluded. Now even starting with simple displays of respect we can already see that intercultural communication goes wrong in this scene when it can be done better. Asian people rarely shake hands and they traditionally prefer to present their respect in a form of bow.

Walt wants to give everybody his hand to shake but he doesn’t succeed and afterwards even bows himself as he understands that it is he who is a guest and therefore should conform to the rules. But because Walt thinks of those people as guests in his country he can’t realize it at once and his intercultural communication evolves slowly with the flow of a storyline. Using this scene again it will be acceptable to apply here interaction management too. If Thao’s elderly family members and Walt instead of defiantly not talking with each other try to maintain a conversation about, for example, their neighborhood in which all of them happen to live whether they like it or not it would be easier for them to become closer.

Next example is a general relationship between Thao and Walt who are completely different in age, nation, culture, tradition and views. But paradoxically this difference attracts them because they are so different from everybody that they seek understanding.