Caught 2 movies lately.
Namely "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Letters from Iwo Jima".
Both movies invoke some feelings in me and taught me a few lessons or 2.
Think I shall go movie by movie, thought by thought, in order not to jumble up the entry. =)
The Pursuit of Happyness
In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) is buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure. No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave.
Chris, now a single father, continues doggedly to pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future. Without a financial cushion, Chris and his son are soon evicted from their apartment and forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms, or wherever they can find refuge for the night.
Despite his troubles, Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces.
Driven by the adversity of life, a man might be able to release his full potential, or even over what his able to do.
This point is proven in many examples that we heard of.
Like the mum defending her kids from the tiger, fending the beast off after a hard battle.
All these is possible!
This is called WILL power.
When you set your mind to do something, and so focus in accomplishing that task that you forgot about your fears, your uncertainties, and go all out to do what you wanna do.
I can still remember this saying from the movie by Will Smith to the son,
"Son, when others tell you that you can't do it, don't let them put you down! They can't do it! So they said you can't do it too!"
and I will add this, "when you believe in something, go do it! Believe in your beliefs!"
Like my previous post, I wanna do something! I wanna make my life a worthwhile one. I wanna strike it big this life and nothing is gonna stop me from doing that!
"Do you wanna just live through life or do you wanna live a life ?"
Think bout it my friends. =)
Letters from Iwo Jima
Sixty-one years ago, U.S. and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, several hundred letters are unearthed from that stark island’s soils. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them, Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe). With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of the island itself, Gen. Kuribayashi’s unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat.
War-flicks never fail to impress me!
I am always glued to war-flicks!
There's just something about them that intrigues me.
And I ever had this dream to collect and own all the war-flicks that were ever produced in vcd/dvd forms! =D
So here we are, a movie bout WW2.
Rather, towards the end of WW2.
2 movies by Clint Eastwood on the tiny island of Iwo Jima.
The Allies version were told in the "Flags of our father", and the Japs in this.
Once again I was impressed by Clint Eastwood.
How he managed to linked a few short stories seamlessly into a big one! How he was able to intro the movie and end it from present to the past and then back to the present again, thats REFRESHING!
And the cast! wonderful acting! especially to Ken Watanabe and the actor that acted as Baron Nishi in the show, forgot his name! Think without them the show wont have the impact it had.
2 things from the movie.
One, the way of the samurai, or more specifically, kamikaze.
Rather to commit suicide than to fall into enemy hands and be killed by them which is consider a disgrace in the way of the samurai.
In war, I would call it giving up easily, letting the enemy gain an easier path to their victory.
Rather than to commit suicide, why not fight till the end and give the enemy a more difficult time ? Take out as many as you can and make yourself useful! rather than giving up and killing yourself... who are you to judge that all is loss ? You only really lose it when you die....
Two, "Do what is right, because that is the only right thing to do."
A letter from an American Soldier, sent to him by his mum.
Baron Nishi wounded the soldier, and decided to save the man even though his medical supplies were running low, his reason ? Simple, "would'nt you want the Americans to save you when you get shot by them?"
Ok that was kinda stupid, but still it was very honorable of him to do so.
But the quote above makes lots of damn sense.
Don't think it need me to explain further.
"Do what is right, because that is the only right thing to do.
