A poster of He Named Me Malala.
New York:
Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 but has continued to speak out on behalf of education for girls, is a familiar face in the West by now, thanks to a best-selling book, television appearances, speaking engagements and, of course, the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize (which she shared with Kailash Satyarthi). But you may wonder about the real person behind the media phenomenon.
You'll still be wondering after watching He Named Me Malala, a documentary about her by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). The film is primarily interested in spreading her message and seems pitched to a young audience. Nothing wrong with that. But it only occasionally delivers the kind of unguarded moment that makes you feel as if you're getting beneath the media image, and it is not at all interested in discussing broader issues raised by Yousufzai's fame.
The film is at its best when it shows Yousufzai in her adopted home in England interacting with her brothers, who steal the show every time they're on camera. They seem largely indifferent to her fame and make wiseacre remarks about her just the way any brothers would. But the film doesn't linger on these vignettes long because it is also trying to chart her path to the Nobel, tell the story of her early advocacy and the assassination attempt, and explore the influence of her father on her.
It's the father-daughter thread that comes closest to being provocative. Did her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, an educator who had spoken out against the Taliban's repressiveness, push Malala into activism to further his own views, just as a parent might pressure a child to excel at a sport when all the kid really wants to do is be a kid? The question is asked, and Yousufzai asserts that her choices were her own, but so much in this movie sounds as if it's well-rehearsed that you're not really sure what to take at face value.
Beyond that, the film doesn't particularly examine the price of Western superstardom. Yousufzai, now 18, doesn't say much about demands and intrusions on her personal life that must rival those experienced by young rock stars. And just how her fame is affecting things back home in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, if at all, remains unexplored, as does the uneasy question of how much heritage you have to give up to become a Western media darling.
He Named Me Malala is rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned). Disturbing themes and images.
Production notes:
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Genre: Documentary
Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai, Khushal Yousafzai, Atal Yousafzai
You'll still be wondering after watching He Named Me Malala, a documentary about her by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). The film is primarily interested in spreading her message and seems pitched to a young audience. Nothing wrong with that. But it only occasionally delivers the kind of unguarded moment that makes you feel as if you're getting beneath the media image, and it is not at all interested in discussing broader issues raised by Yousufzai's fame.
The film is at its best when it shows Yousufzai in her adopted home in England interacting with her brothers, who steal the show every time they're on camera. They seem largely indifferent to her fame and make wiseacre remarks about her just the way any brothers would. But the film doesn't linger on these vignettes long because it is also trying to chart her path to the Nobel, tell the story of her early advocacy and the assassination attempt, and explore the influence of her father on her.
It's the father-daughter thread that comes closest to being provocative. Did her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, an educator who had spoken out against the Taliban's repressiveness, push Malala into activism to further his own views, just as a parent might pressure a child to excel at a sport when all the kid really wants to do is be a kid? The question is asked, and Yousufzai asserts that her choices were her own, but so much in this movie sounds as if it's well-rehearsed that you're not really sure what to take at face value.
Beyond that, the film doesn't particularly examine the price of Western superstardom. Yousufzai, now 18, doesn't say much about demands and intrusions on her personal life that must rival those experienced by young rock stars. And just how her fame is affecting things back home in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, if at all, remains unexplored, as does the uneasy question of how much heritage you have to give up to become a Western media darling.
He Named Me Malala is rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned). Disturbing themes and images.
Production notes:
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Genre: Documentary
Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai, Khushal Yousafzai, Atal Yousafzai
