http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4027358489/
This film is based on a true story and it centres around an 84 year old Kenyan ex Mau Mau freedom fighter who fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford. This created strong opposition from parents and teachers.
The film First Grader is definitely a drama film which captures the audience's mind, and it definitely conforms to various conventions of a drama film. It has many moments of silence and suspense. it is presented in a non chronological sequence, it had various violent wartime flashbacks, for example when Maruge is shown being tortured as he is hung upside down and whipped or pierced in the ear with a sharpened pencil or when he if forced to watch his wife and baby get killed. There is definitely the antagonist and protagonists where Marugee is the protagonist where he wants the right to free education and believes 'everybody' includes him and the other Kenyan parents and teachers are the antagonists who find it absurd that an 84 year old man wants to learn to read along with six year old children. I also think that, with regards to what the violent flashback shows, the British people are the antagonists in the sense that they oppose the views of the Kenyan people, they don't care what they think or want, and Maruge, along with the other innocent Kenyan civilians are victims.
The elements of this drama film that most interested me is different emotions expressed. The director Justin Chadwick had disturbing moments in the film, for example when Maruge's wife gets shot in head and his baby too. It has moments where we feel very sympathetic and almost hurt for Maruge when he imagines his wife next to him singing to him. But the film also have a lot of happy moments and most importantly perhaps proud moments that show us how Maruge is proud of who he is, this I thought was shown when he went to the government meeting and showed the marks on his back declaring how if it wasn't for him or the other who suffered Kenya would not be where they are now. But in my opinion, the most amazing aspect of the film has to be the message that it leaves with us. We see how Maruge has suffered from the very start of his life and how he is still to this very day is struggling to overcome his violent and unforgettable past life. We perceive him as an advocate of the disadvantaged people who have suffered considerably in their life. The fact that he fights for the right to education and freedom, that he never gives up is a lesson to all.
This film is rated PG 13 for some disturbing violent content and brief nudity. However, I think due to the very disturbing violence in some scenes it should be rated 15. For me, some scenes were very upsetting and difficult to watch and personally I don't think people of younger age than 15 can put up with the violent scenes. However, for educational purposes it is obvious why it was rated PG 13 because of the Historical context.
This would affect how we would regulate the guidelines for our film, however our film is not so upsetting as seen in the First Grader and in my opinion I think out film could be a PG film. This is because it has no swearing in it, or any violents scenes, there are only scenes of pushing around. There is a scene of a house getting caught on fire but because it has no actual fire coming out if it or, because we don't see anyone actually dying or suffering in it it'd be suitable to watch.
Sources - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790663/
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/first-grader
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