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Reviews
Freedom Writers (2007)
A Surprisingly Objective View of Educating
WARNING! SPOILERS CONTAINED.
Within this genre, classics like "The Blackboard Jungle" and "To Sir With Love" and movies since all have one thing in common. They present the case for educating street kids without thoroughly exploring all the issues that principals and department chairpersons must grapple with in the oversight of such education. Traditionally, in these movies, the only obstacles that they face are their own prejudices and/or defeatist attitudes.
Freedom Writers is different, daring to explore the more plausible arguments against the type of education advocated by Erin Gruwell. English Department chairperson Margaret Campbell, brilliantly played by Imelda Staunton, is Erin's nemesis, and yet, her arguments, though typically offered with a tone of intolerance and vengeance, are nearly always plausible. Erin's fellow English teacher Brian Gelford is another nemesis who makes his arguments undiplomatically, but well. For example: 1) When Erin wants to take books from the library for her students, Margaret notes that historically, students from Erin's class have done damage to books issued to them, authorizing issuance of only the cheapest books, 2) When Erin suggests to Brian that her students would relate to Anne Frank's story, he notes that the school's teachers are the ones who live in far greater fear than ever before since the recent integration initiative. Sociological reasons put aside, the number of students involved in criminal acts has risen dramatically. Even if short-sighted, it is a reasonable observation, and his fear is understandable, and 3) Erin's suggestion that she be permitted to remain with her students beyond their sophomore year meets with resistance from Margaret and Brian, as it a) raises issues about who is qualified to teach juniors, b) deviates from a long-standing formula for education in her school perceived to be successful, and c) may not be practical, even by Erin 's admission, as a long-term approach to education in the school.
These are just a few examples of how Freedom Writers skillfully, and objectively, considers some of the more difficult issues that educators must grapple with in determining how to best educate kids from the streets. For me, the objectivity with which Freedom Writers considers subjects such as these is refreshing and helps the viewer to understand how difficult it can be for a teacher with the best of intentions, even one in the midst of clear-thinking (though possibly short-sighted) colleagues who genuinely care about all the students. The inner tension of the movie between Erin, Margaret and Brian is a big part of what makes this movie work, heightening the viewers appreciation for what Erin accomplishes.
I highly recommend this movie.
The Brass Bottle (1964)
Telling the future
The Brass Bottle, which I thought was quite entertaining, was obviously the basis for the "I Dream of Jeannie" television series, but one thing I liked that was in the movie that wasn't really dealt with in the television show was that the genie utilized his ability to see the future to his master's advantage. This was particularly amusing when it came to the confident efforts of the genie in the management of his master's investments. When I watched "I Dream of Jeannie", I always wondered whether Jeannie could tell the future, and if so, why she didn't use that ability to help her master. It really seems to me that had she done so, it would have made a great television series even better.
The Paper Chase (1973)
Almost a Classic
Advance warning - this comment will give away the ending of the film.
Just watched The Paper chase for about the fourth time, and I have to say that it a fine movie on many levels. It is well-acted and gives interesting insights into the rigors of law school. All the scenes in Kingsfield's Contract Law class are fantastic.
Still, each time I see this film, my opinion of it is lowered, for the simple reason that I find the ending harder and harder to swallow. The lack of a deep, burning, passion in the relationship between Hart and Susan was clear. There was warmth between them, but if Susan loved him as Anna loved Vronsky, or if Hart loved her as Romeo loved Juliet, things would have been different. Given that Hart often managed to keep their relationship in proper perspective as he pursued his dream of becoming a lawyer, and that his passion for the law seemed to have peaked near the end of the term, his decision was truly shocking.
As a viewer, I had come to admire Hart for his steadfastness and tenacity, but in the end, I wondered "couldn't he have had both Susan and a great legal future?" and "if he could only have Susan or a great legal future, would he really have made this choice?"
Had Susan helped him make the right decision about his future, this movie would have been a classic. With this ending, it doesn't quite measure up.
The Browning Version (1951)
Teaching Without Joy
The Browning Version is a wonderful movie that reminds us that a teacher who teaches without joy will likely fail.
Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society, Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club, and Peter O'Toole in Goodbye Mr Chips, all show us how it's done. In each case, you can sense the joy with which they mold young minds. Michael Redgrave, as the stoic Crocker-Harris in The Browning Version, shows us that no amount of scholarship can make a great teacher of a pedantic, self-consumed, and distant individual.
Crocker-Harris' most unexpected redemption must not be confused for a validation of his teaching career. All of us welcome an apology from those who have wronged us, but the scars they leave upon us may heal slowly, or even not at all. Crocker-Harris is a negative role model for all who aspire to become teachers.
The Emperor's Club (2002)
What Exactly is Failure When it Comes To Teaching?
Let's face it, The Emperor's Club is entertaining, but really good movies about the teaching profession are few and far between. It's not nearly on a par with The Browning Version, Goodbye Mr Chips, Dead Poet's Society, perhaps not even on a par with School Ties.
The message that even a great teacher may not be able to properly mold every single student is delivered well in Dead Poet's Society, but in a hit-you-over-the-head obvious way. The same message is delivered more skillfully in The Emperor's Club, where the viewer is presented with clear evidence that the teacher feels he has failed with respect to a student that goes on to have a prosperous and full life.
The Emperor's Club helps us re-evaluate what we can and should expect from our teachers, and how we should measure their success. Not every viewer will reach the same conclusions on this point, but that's the beauty of it.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Free Thinkers Not Welcome
A Beautiful Mind is a wonderful movie on many levels, but one thing that caught my attention was the sad reminder that, far too often, those who dare to think differently, are discouraged.
Nash dared to think in a way that seemed peculiar to most of those in his midst, and most of his peers derided him in ways that made his persistence all the more impressive. That's our world for you far too often: free thinkers not welcome. Of course, the human race has improved with age in this regard, and we're unlikely to execute the next Gallileo. On the other hand, far too often we all fail to sufficiently embrace the true free thinkers of our world, and in failing to do so, we impede and deter many of those with less resolve than Nash.
A Beautiful Mind reminds us to encourage those who think differently, so that they may realize the full potential of their ideas.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
War's Reach Greater Than We May Realize
The Deer Hunter may be the definitive movie about how war affects people. It achieves this result by focusing on the hometown of those who go to Vietnam, and those in their lives.
Many movies do a better job of showing how war affects the soldiers who have to endure it, or how the spouses and girlfriends are affected. Like so many, however, I've never experienced war or been a soldier. The impact of war to me, like so many others, was measured by deaths and injuries, and soldiers coming back intact seemed largely unaffected and prepared to resume the lives they left behind. Until I saw The Deer Hunter, that is.
I learned that war's impact on soldiers is not only physical, but mental and emotional, and that war's reach extends not only to those that participate but, in varying degrees, to all those in their lives.
I strongly recommend Deer Hunter as a movie that will sensitize the viewer to the breadth of war's reach.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Hope, Despair, Assimilation and Rejection
Spoiler!! The philosophical ebbs and flows of The Shawshank Redemption make it the finest movie of the last ten years. Andy is a ping pong ball of hope and despair, of assimilation and rejection. The same is true of Red, but the philosophical contrast between the two, and the way each is forced to consider the other's viewpoint, is why this movie's message is so poignantly delivered.
Andy, in his earliest prison days, is a loner, whose hope that his nightmarish incarceration will not prove real delays his assimilatation into the culture and society of Shawshank. Ultimately, though, while clinging to an inner belief that Shawshank is not home, he realizes that, in assimilation, lies his only hope of coping with prison life.
Contrastingly, Red, a long-term inmate whose once-a-decade parole rejections have become a ritual reminder of the fact that he has no hope of getting out of prison, has assimilated to the fullest possible extent, and clearly views Shawshank as home.
Each is frequently exposed to the viewpoint of the other. Red expresses concern when Andy dreams of life in Mexico, but Andy takes exception when Red proclaims himself to be dependent on Shawshank for his livelihood. Red, in essence, suggests that Andy accept Shawshank as home.
Red is selling despair and assimilation to Andy, but Andy is selling hope and rejection to Red. When Andy escapes from Shawshank, Red's chance to sell Shawshank to Andy evaporates, but it's impossible to tell whether Andy has reached Red or not, and it appears that it doesn't really matter.
The brilliant twist toward the end of The Shawshank Redemption is that it is the manifestation of his despair to the parole board that results in Red's parole. Even in parole, however, Red finds despair in assimilation, the same despair that prompted Brooks to commit suicide some years earlier. Only when he reads the note Andy left for him in the hayfields of Buxton is Red presented with a chance to pursue a course of hope and rejection.
Rejection, in this case, means parole violation, and results directly from Red's, seemingly unprecedented, hope for a happy life. When Red acts on his impulse and travels to Mexico to, presumably, live out his life alongside the greatest friend he has ever known, he, finally, buys into Andy's philosophies about hope, despair, assimilation and rejection.
In doing so, he provides a happy ending to a film that may live on forever due to the criticality of its subject matter and its masteful delivery of its message.