Post by StevePulaski on Apr 27, 2011 9:14:42 GMT -5
Rating: ★★★
The Power of One is something of a different breed for me. I normally don't watch films like these if I do not see them in school. I didn't expect a whole lot, but what I got was definitely a favorable taste. The film depicts what it was like to live in South Africa in the thirties and forties. To put it simplistically, it was hell. It was one of the most crucial punishments of the time to be black and have your home be in South Africa.
The plot: PK is an English boy, and after his mother is recovering from several life obstacles he gets sent to a Dutch school. What an unenjoyable and miserable experience for such a young boy as he is victimized and tormented because of the Dutch's extreme hatred towards the English/British because of The Boer War outcome.
There are details I'd rather not go into because one of which made me so upset it was unspeakably depressing. This film is one of those films where there isn't anything really wrong with the movie, but it's depressing. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Trust me, I've seen films like that that jump from happy to sad. You become so emotionally rocked you feel you're back at age thirteen undergoing puberty.
After that rancid and horrible treatment, we see PK grow older and older till he reaches his teen years becoming a young adult. Along the way he meets Geel Piet (Freeman) who trains him to become a stronger, more physical human being so he can defend himself. PK learns love, loss, and violence as he tries to make a decision rather to stay or go.
The Power of One has a few technical errors I'd like to point out. One, at the very end the green screen job becomes (a) very fake and (b) the human characters find themselves stuck in the mud. You'll see. The other is that PK's hair color changes frequently throughout the film. This could be his attempts to blend in, but it's never discussed in the film.
The score to the film was real well composed by Hans Zimmer (The Simpsons). And there are some scenes in the film I'd like to watch again. The Power of One isn't perfect and a bit uneasy maybe for younger viewers, but it is still a solid movie about the honorable PK and the hell he was going through during the thirties and forties.
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Craig, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and John Gielgud. Directed by: John G. Avildsen.
The Power of One is something of a different breed for me. I normally don't watch films like these if I do not see them in school. I didn't expect a whole lot, but what I got was definitely a favorable taste. The film depicts what it was like to live in South Africa in the thirties and forties. To put it simplistically, it was hell. It was one of the most crucial punishments of the time to be black and have your home be in South Africa.
The plot: PK is an English boy, and after his mother is recovering from several life obstacles he gets sent to a Dutch school. What an unenjoyable and miserable experience for such a young boy as he is victimized and tormented because of the Dutch's extreme hatred towards the English/British because of The Boer War outcome.
There are details I'd rather not go into because one of which made me so upset it was unspeakably depressing. This film is one of those films where there isn't anything really wrong with the movie, but it's depressing. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Trust me, I've seen films like that that jump from happy to sad. You become so emotionally rocked you feel you're back at age thirteen undergoing puberty.
After that rancid and horrible treatment, we see PK grow older and older till he reaches his teen years becoming a young adult. Along the way he meets Geel Piet (Freeman) who trains him to become a stronger, more physical human being so he can defend himself. PK learns love, loss, and violence as he tries to make a decision rather to stay or go.
The Power of One has a few technical errors I'd like to point out. One, at the very end the green screen job becomes (a) very fake and (b) the human characters find themselves stuck in the mud. You'll see. The other is that PK's hair color changes frequently throughout the film. This could be his attempts to blend in, but it's never discussed in the film.
The score to the film was real well composed by Hans Zimmer (The Simpsons). And there are some scenes in the film I'd like to watch again. The Power of One isn't perfect and a bit uneasy maybe for younger viewers, but it is still a solid movie about the honorable PK and the hell he was going through during the thirties and forties.
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Craig, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and John Gielgud. Directed by: John G. Avildsen.