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Welcome to JFS School's official Blog. This is our third year of the blog and represents a chance for our new team of intrepid student journalists to write what's on their minds. The Autumn term’s blog theme focuses on “Inspiration” - so stay tuned for some fantastic creative writing.


Thursday 11 December 2014

INSPIRATION: The Films that Inspire me

From a very young age, I have always had a colossal love for films. I love the stories films tell, the feelings they evoke and how they influence and inspire me. I have chosen many films from a wide range of film genres and topics that have made an impression on me.

For me, ‘Schindler’s List’ is a film that inspires me massively. It tells the story of Oskar Schindler who saved more than a thousand Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. I find this film inspirational as it tells the story of how one man saved a generation of lives by employing them in his factories. This film also inspires me because it shows that if you can use your strength and determination for a good cause, you have potential to stop monstrosities occurring and make the world a better place. This message is still relevant today because of the many wars and troubles that the world still faces.

One of my favourite topics for films that have influenced me is people standing up for their rights such as freedom and there have been many examples of classic films that fall into this category. A recent example is the excellent ‘12 Years A Slave’ which is about a free African-American man called Solomon Northup who is captured and sold into slavery. The film features excellent performances and won the best picture at the Oscars this year. This film inspires me because it shows us the heart-breaking truth that an innocent man can be captured and tortured for no reason and the will and determination that people can display under horrendous circumstances.

Other films that I find inspirational in this category include ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’, ‘The Help’ and ‘The Butler’. The Mandela film shows Nelson Mandela stood up for his rights and spent many years in prison because he fought for his belief that people of any race should be equal- as do the scripts in ‘The Help’ and ‘The Butler’.

Another type of inspirational films that I like to watch are films which see a character overcoming a problem. Examples of film that fit into this category are ‘Rain Man’, ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘The Blind Side’. Rain Man is about a man who discovers that his estranged father has died and left all of his multimillion dollar estate to his other son Raymond who is autistic. I find ‘Rain Man’ inspirational as it shows that even if you have a disability, you can still be a great person and this film helps get rid of the misconception that you can’t do much good if you have a disability. The ‘King’s Speech’ is inspirational as it shows George VI overcoming his stammer and that you can be a great leader even if you have something that makes you struggle more than others. ‘The Blind Side’ is inspirational for me as it shows you can come from nothing with a very poor background, to then achieving your dreams.

I also love a motivational story that includes an underdog. My favourite film from this category is the sports drama ‘Rocky’ which is about Rocky Balboa who is an uneducated but nice debt collector in Philadelphia. ‘Rocky’ then starts out as a club fighter who later gains a chance at the World Heavyweight Championship. I find Rocky an incredibly amazing story because this is another example of a ‘rags to riches’ story and shows that even if you lose, in the end, you have tried your hardest and can still be proud of your achievements.

Survival stories based on real life tragedies are also a great source for an inspirational movie with two examples being ‘Titanic’ and ‘World Trade Center’. Titanic is an influential film because it shows many people on board the Titanic trying to help others survive and escape safely off the ship and ‘World Trade Center’ is influential because it shows the courage of the firefighters that went in the Twin Towers to save many civilians during ‘9/11’.

The last feature that I think an inspirational movie should contain is courage. Best Picture Oscar winner ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a perfect example of a film that is motivational and contains courage in the characters. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is about a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ and does so well that he is accused of cheating. The film is shown in flashbacks which explain how he knows all the answers and the film is inspirational because it shows that if you have courage, you can achieve a lot, despite having many drawbacks to stop you from reaching your goal. A recent example of an influential film is ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ which is about a girl who has cancer. ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ shows courage as the main character, Hazel,  tries to stay brave and live her life even though she has cancer and is inspirational as it shows that you don’t have to change even if you have a horrible illness.

However inspirational films are not always about standing up to rights, having courage or the other topics that have been mentioned above. An inspirational film can also be something that personally inspires you. For me, many animation films inspire me because when I am older, I want to work in the film business doing a job linked to animation. The main films from this genre that influence me are ‘Toy Story 3’ and ‘WALL.E’ because the designs in these two films are ‘in another world’. They also influence me because they both contain beautiful and interesting stories with well-developed and thought through characters.

Now I have told you all the films that influence and inspire me, think about the films that inspire you.