The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor Maxwell Simba, Felix Lemburo, Robert Agengo, Fiskan Makawa. 2019. 113 minutes
Set against the background of a drought in a poverty-stricken African village named Wimbe in Malawi, this real-life story narrates the triumph of human imagination and spirit displayed by a young boy. William Kamkwamba belongs to a struggling family of Malawian peasants who struggle to get their children educated. The village has no electricity. It lives on subsistence farming. William, just thirteen, has to stop schooling because he has no money. The village is stricken with drought alternated by heavy rains, environmental destruction and consequent crop failure. The government is non-existent; there is violence and anarchy. The threat of famine looms large and the family survives on one meal a day.
In this desperate situation, William educates himself in mechanics through the books that he is able to read in a free library. His natural fascination with machines and electricity is roused when he encounters an American picture book about using energy.. He forages frequently among the trash to retrieve auto parts and scrap metal to make machines that would produce electricity. His family and villages consider him stupid or even crazy. With the help of his cousin and friends, he begins to innovate on his own, designing a windmill out of discarded metal parts. His first creation is a dynamo which helps to operate a radio and a few electric bulbs at home. This inspires him to erect another windmill to pump water from a deep well to irrigate the dried up farms. His success wins national and international attention. He becomes a saviour to his people. He is able to realize his dream of education when he is awarded a scholarship to study in USA. He stands out as a symbol of courage and faith in the face of adversity and despair.
Same Kind of Different as Me
Director: Michael Carney. Cast: Renée Zellweger, Jon Voight, Djimon Hounsou, Greg Kinnear, Olivia Holt. 2017. 119 minutes
This film tells the story of a spiritual journey of two men—one white and the other black, propelled by the white man’s wife. Ron Hall, a millionaire art, has to confront his marital infidelity that nearly breaks up his family. But his wife Deborah gives him a second chance and forces him to do community service in a house for homeless destitutes. Here they meet a violent, illiterate black man who calls himself “Suicide.” Suicide is often armed with a baseball bat with which he wrecks glass windows and cars. The inmates are totally scared of Suicide whose real name is Denver.
Ron and Debbie have to confront the man. It is no easy task to communicate with him. Slowly, they come to know the lonely Denver’s past. Abandoned at birth by both parents and subject to racial prejudice and violence, he has to work on the cotton plantations as a virtual slave. He later escapes to a town where he becomes a victim of crime and hate and lands in prison where he turns murderer in his teens. The white couple gain greater understanding of Denver and his hatred of whites. The two men struggle towards mutual respect and trust thanks to the steadfastness of Debbie.
Ron has also to face troubles with his father, who is a drunken, quarrelsome man. Things go bad when Debbie is discovered with cancer, precipitating a deep crisis. Denver becomes part of the family now. In fact, his faith and love become a source of courage and consolation. Ron learns to forgive his father. Denver delivers the eulogy for Debbie at her funeral. He says: “Whether we is rich or poor or something in between, this earth ain’t no final restin’ place. So, in a way, we is all homeless—just workin’ our way toward home.” He notes that those whom he hated (the whites) are also “the same kind of different” as himself.
Dr Gigy Joseph
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