The Pursuit of Happyness

Tuesday night.
Pacific Fair Cinema.
The Pursuit of Happyness.

For the first time in 3 months I discovered the movie world again. I love movies. And I love going to the cinema. I know there's one person back home that still remembers our once-a-week movie nights. And if he happens to read this, I want him to know I've been missing them heaps. Coca-Cola Plaza, Combo package (popcorn with 2 drinks) and peanut M&M's :) And even though it's not CC Plaza, but Pacific Fair Cinema here, there's no Combo package, but simply popcorn, it was great to go out to the movies again. And they do have M&M's here, size XXL :) The movie we chose to see was The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and his real-life son Jaden Christopher. Great choice!

It's a touching rags-to-riches tale that explores the possibilities of life, based on a true story, making it all-the-more remarkable. Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them. Despite being broke and alone, Chris makes a commitment to his son. Having had an absent father, Chris vows to always be there for his boy, no matter what. His dogged determination and devotion is fascinating and inspiring. Despite the troubles, Chris continues to honour 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.

The team Smiths have done a great job, and the little Smith is a gorgeous kid. The obvious pleasure he takes in the closeness between him and his father is very touching. Perhaps the only negative of this film is its one-dimensionality. There aren't really any sub-plots, and though the journey is remarkable, the outcome is somewhat predictable. There is a lot of hardship for a few moments of glory, but the ride is touching and enjoyable nonetheless.

There are a few moments throughout the movie that bear amazing resemblance to one of my favourite movies of them all La Vita È Bella (Life Is Beautiful), which tells the story of an Italian jew, Guido Orefice (played by Italian Roberto Benigni who also directed and co-wrote the film), who lives in his own romantic fairy tale world, but must learn how to use his fertile imagination to help his son survive their internment in a Nazi concentration camp. See where Gardner is forced to spend a night at a metro station and he makes his son believe the medical gadget he's selling is a time machine, which brings them back in the era of dinosaurs. See where they escape to find shelter in the public toilets which they imagine are a cave where they can hide, this is where you can feel an amazing similarity to the story of Guido and his son Giosuè in the Nazi camp. In an attempt at keeping up Giosuè's spirits, Guido convinces him that the camp is just a game – a game in which the first person to get a thousand points wins a tank. He convinces Giosuè that the camp guards are mean because they want the tank for themselves, that all the other children are hiding in order to win the game, and puts off every attempt of Giosuè's ending the game and returning home by convincing him that they are in the lead for the tank. Despite being surrounded by rampant death and disease, Giosuè doesn't question this fiction both because of his father's convincing performance and his own innocence.

Guido maintains this story right until the end, when – in the chaos caused by the American advance drawing near – he is caught, taken away, and shot, but not before making his son laugh one last time. Little Giosuè manages to survive, and thinks he's won the game when an American tank arrives to liberate the camp, and is reunited with his mother. Half happy ending. Very sentimental. Whereas in The Pursuit of Happiness the Italian director (coincidence?) Gabriele Muccino resists the temptation to politicise or racialise Chris's plight, or that of the many other homeless in the San Francisco area. He also avoids corniness and sentimentality, a tremendous achievement for a film that oscillates between such heartbreaking themes. In one way or another, the two movies are both top class. Highly recommended.

P.S. Thanks, Grant, for the invitation to see this great movie!