Race
Director: Stephen Hopkins. Cast: Stephan James, Jeremy Irons Shanice Banton, Jason Sudeikis, Barnaby Metschurat, William Hurt, David Kross. (2016. 134 minutes)
This movie presents the legendary Black US athlete Jesse Owens, whose stunning performance in the Berlin Olympics of 1936 won also a moral victory over the blatant racism of the Nazis as well as that of his own country. In 1933, the poverty-ridden young Owens goes to Ohio State University where his potential is identified by the athletics coach Larry Snyder, who persuades him to train for the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Jesse works in a gas station (petrol bunk) while training on the track and studying, which is really tough. The coach mentors Jesse to be confident and also remain unaffected by the racist insults that he has to face. In 1935, despite an injury, he competes in the sprint event and clocks a record despite a booing racist crowd. The referees refuse to accept the record, but he is unfazed and goes on to break records in other events too and becomes a hero. Hitler had designed the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a show piece of Aryan supremacy (over Jews and other racial groups).
Owens has to face much opposition, but he puts sports over politics and would go on to defeat racism During the first event—long jump—Owens competes for gold with Germany’s showpiece Luz Long, with Hitler in the box. Luz Long stands out as a true athlete, helping Owens correct his faulty technique and win with a record. Hitler refused to give the customary shake hand to the winner and did not turn up to watch the other three events where Owens created history. Luz Long and Owens’ friendship is a celebration of Olympians triumphing over racism. The movie also shows the racism in the US. When Owens and his wife arrive for the party held in his honour, they are allowed to enter the hotel only through a back door. However, Owens remains unaffected. The White House did not acknowledge the contributions of the black athletes. The film is also a nod to the celebrated German cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl, who defied the Nazi government’s orders to stop recording Owens’s performances on film.
I Am Kalam
Director: Nila Madhab Panda. Cast: Harsh Mayar, Gulshan Grover, Pitobash Tripathy, Beatrice Ordeix, Sanjay Chauhan (2011. 87 minutes)
Set in Rajasthan and Delhi, the film tells the heartwarming story of Chottu, a gifted but poor village boy who overcomes all odds to achieve his dream of getting a good education. It is also a tribute to the late Indian president A P J Abdul Kalām, a great champion of education. Chottu, though a child, works in a dhaba in Bikaner, and lives with his widowed mother Meera, who lives in abject poverty and debt. He is mischievous, jovial and clever, with a passion for language learning. The dhaba is at the doorsteps of a Rajput palace now turned into a tourist resort. Too poor to realize his dream of going to a good school, Chottu collects books and finds time to teach himself language. The dreamy kid is fired up when he listens to a Television speech by President Abdul Kalām and begins to idolize Kalām to such an extent that he renames himself “Kalām.” Chottu dreams of Delhi and becoming a future president. He makes friends with Ranvijay, the youngest son of he resort’s owner, who has no friends. They have secret meetings and fun together, without the knowledge of the elders. Ranvijay offers to teach him English and in return Chottu would help him with Hindi. Lucy, a French tourist, teaches Chottu French.
Hardships multiply. A jealous neighbour destroys Chottu’s books. Worse, Chottu is taken for a thief on account of the gift of books and clothes that Ranvijay has given him. To escape, he hitches a ride with a friendly Punjabi and reaches Delhi. His dream is to meet the president. He writes a letter to President Kalām and hands it to a policeman and lives on the street as an entertainer. Alarmed by the boy’s disappearance and the discovery of his innocence, his mother and his employer follow him to Delhi, where they are reunited. The film is both entertaining and inspiring. Coming to realize the boy’s passion for learning, he is sent to school along with Ranvijay in the way in which Chottu always dreamed of.
Prof Gigy Joseph
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