Freedom Writers, based on the best-selling book The Freedom Writers Diary, is the true story of a Long Beach, California high school teacher, Erin Gruwell (played by two-time Academy Award Winner Hilary Swank), who, through her creativity
and dedication, succeeds in changing the lives of her “unteachable, at-risk,” and racially-divided students by breaking down their racial walls, infusing in them a hope in the future, and helping them see the value of their high school education.
Inspired by reading the books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, the class members write their own personal diaries over the course of the school year, detailing the ups and downs of their troubled, violent lives. Through these diaries and Gruwell’s courageous diligence, teaching, and example, the students’ lives are deeply altered.
I was privileged to be invited to a recent screening of Freedom Writers, produced by Paramount and MTV Films, scheduled for release on Jan 12, 2007. Since the screening was in Long Beach where Freedom Writers is based, we were honored with the presence of Erin Gruwell, the teacher featured in the movie, as well as many of the original Freedom Writers students.
The movie starts by showing the rough environment of Long Beach, California in the 1990’s—violence, intolerance, and hopelessness rule the day, especially in the lives of the disadvantaged high school students. Freedom Writers doesn’t hold back in portraying the grit and reality of the times, and it is consistent in doing this throughout the length of the film. As the movie progresses, it presents an impressively honest depiction of the story, tackling head-on the intense emotions of the characters, the social issues, and the dramatic scenes, portraying them in a true, down-to-earth manner. Part of this is due to the fact that a portion of the movie dialogue is taken verbatim from the actual students’ diaries—this gives a refreshingly real, honest flavor to the film.The whole script followed suit. There was very little Hollywood cheese or worn-out clichés, much to my delight. Hilary Swank does a phenomenal job of playing the complex role of the spunky, indomitable, and incredibly endearing teacher who manages to reach and inspire such hard-bitten kids.
Freedom Writers is socially responsible. It brings our attention back to the tragedy of the Holocaust and the history of racism in our own country. The movie gives us heroes, both past and present, that are, and have been, run through the ethical wringer, and come out on top, and thus provide highly inspirational examples.
I was very surprised by how emotionally moving Freedom Writers is. Perhaps this is due in part to the truthfulness of the story; it is also a tribute to the exceptional writing and sensitive treatment of the scenes, as well as the formidable acting performances across the board. Patrick Dempsey does a solid and subtle job of playing Gruwell’s (Swank) husband caught between his own personal self-confidence crisis and the success of wife. Imelda Staunton is the perfect High School Department Head who tries to impede Gruwell, both angry at Gruwell’s impetuousness and jealous of her achievements. There are strong performances by the actors portraying the students, such as April Hernandez (as Eva), Deance Wyatt (as Jamal), Mario, and others.
Many true-story movies dot the Hollywood landscape, some better and more effective than others, but very few are as inspiring, compelling, socially conscious, and moving as Freedom Writers. I left the movie theater thinking, “Wow, that was powerful. Everyone needs to watch this movie.” I don’t know anyone who couldn’t benefit from watching this film. So, go see it!
Related Articles:
Hear from one of the original Freedom Writers (Kimberlee Morrison).
More on the Freedom Writers movie screening.
More about the Freedom Writers Foundation.
Freedom Writers is perfect citizen journalism.
Posted by: Hal Halladay | November 22, 2006 6:32 PM | Permalink to Comment