Daily Dialogue — August 22, 2018
Walt comes into the sanctuary and Father Janovich looks up.
FATHER JANOVICH: Mr. Kowalski, what can I do for you?
WALT: I’ve come for confession.
FATHER JANOVICH: Oh Lord Jesus, what have you done?
WALT: Nothing. Take it easy.
FATHER JANOVICH: What are you up to?
WALT: Are you going to let me confess or not?
CONFESSIONAL BOOTH
Walt calmly sits on one side and a very nervous, sweating Father Janovich sits on the other.
FATHER JANOVICH: How long has it been since your last confession?
WALT: Forever. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
FATHER JANOVICH: What are your sins, my son.
WALT: In 1968, I kissed Betty Jablonski at the work Christmas party. Dorothy was talking with the other wives and it just happened.
FATHER JANOVICH: Yes. Go on.
WALT: I made nine hundred dollars profit selling a boat and motor and never reported the taxes which is the same as stealing.
FATHER JANOVICH: Yes. Fine.
WALT: And lastly, I was never close to my two sons. I don’t know them. I didn’t know how.
FATHER JANOVICH: That’s it?
WALT: What do you mean, ‘That’s it?’ It’s bothered me for years.
FATHER JANOVICH: God loves and forgives you. Say ten ‘Hail Marys’ and five ‘Our Fathers.’ Are you going to retaliate for what happened to Sue?
Walt says nothing. Father Janovich looks hard at Walt.
FATHER JANOVICH: I’m going over to that house today, Mr. Kowalski.
WALT: Is that so?
FATHER JANOVICH: It is. And every other day until you see the folly in what you are planning.
WALT: I gotta go, Padre. Busy day ahead.
FATHER JANOVICH: Go in peace.
WALT: I am at peace.
— Gran Torino (2008), written by Nick Schenk, story by Dave Johannson & Nick Schenk
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Confession.
Trivia: Writers Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson knew some of the Hmongs near the steel mill where they worked. They wrote the script on pieces of paper during lunch breaks.
Dialogue On Dialogue: This confession works on two levels. First, there’s the actual text Walt conveys in his dialogue, the litany of three things he believes worth confessing. But there’s also what isn’t said, but the young priest suspects is in the air: Walt is going to take the law into his own hands.
