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HE NAMED ME MALALA (review)

Posted by on Dec 17, 2015 in Catalog, Home Viewing | 3 comments

he_named_me_malalaHE NAMED ME MALALA

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

Malala Yousafzai: It is better to live like a lion for one day than to live like a slave for 100 years.

This quote is spoken by Nobel Peace Prize winner, education advocate and Taliban attack survivor, Malala Yousafzai, but they are not her words. At the onset of Davis Guggenheim’s (Academy Award winner for AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) latest documentary, HE NAMED ME MALALA, inspired by her book, I Am Malala, Yousafzai tells the story of a young girl who stood up for what she believed in amidst her war torn country only to end up being killed in battle for her intervention. That young girl is her namesake and this film chronicles how she was destined to change the world.

If you’re not already familiar with Yousafzai’s remarkable journey, you may feel a little lost going into this documentary. Guggenheim presumes you know something about how she stood up to the Taliban at the age of fifteen to defend her right to an education at a time when the Taliban was inflicting extreme violence against all schools in her home country of Pakistan that offered education to girls. She was shot in the face for her defiance, which also included detailing her day to day experiences anonymously to the BBC in diary form in hopes of getting the word out to the world. Slowly but surely, Guggenheim pieces together her incredibly brave story through first hand accounts interspersed with animated sequences that paint her picture as if it were a fable that people will tell their children generations from now. He’s probably not wrong about this either.

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Given the severity of what Yousafzai endured – a coma, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation in addition to horrible violence – I expected HE NAMED ME MALALA to be a more harrowing experience and, while Guggenheim doesn’t ignore her ordeal by any means, he seems more interested in looking towards Yousafzai’s future and reminding us that she is but a teenager. The message then is clear; if this one young person can inspire millions than one person can truly make a difference.

4 sheep

Your turn!

How many sheep would you give He Named Me Malala?

[kkstarratings]

3 Comments

  1. Jeanne Gore / September 13, 2015

    I was at the TIFF showing at Ryerson University. There was no one left unaffected. Inspiring and powerful. She is a gift to the world!

    Reply
    • Joseph Belanger / September 19, 2015

      She truly is and what makes her that beautiful is that there is no semblance of ego. She genuinely seems as if she believes herself to be a vessel of hope for an important message, that her work is bigger than she is.

      Reply
  2. Belinda Charney / December 19, 2015

    What n inspirational movie! Even though seeing what transpired to her on the news and seeing her come back vibrant and inspirational to others.

    Reply

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