《自由作家》是一部由理查德·拉·格拉文斯执导，希拉里·斯万克 / 帕特里克·德姆西 / 斯科特·格伦主演的一部传记 / 犯罪 / 剧情类型的电影，文章吧小编精心整理的一些观众的影评，希望对大家能有帮助。
《自由作家》影评(一)：教育的不平等
这个片子是美国典型的多线／多矛盾题材的片子，最主要的是两方面，一是种族歧视，包括白人对各有色人种的歧视和有色人种之间的相互歧视；二是教育的不平等，包括资源上的不平等，师资上的不平等，以及无形但却至关重要的——期待和看法上的不平等。
Eva的一句话说的很对：学校只不过是社会的一个缩影（大意，原话记不清了），所以其实除了种族这个元素之外，在哪个社会和文化背景之下，都可以找到和这个片子相似的故事。
但从反对教育不平等的角度来说，这个片子显然过度理想化了，像是青少年童话，更像是成人社会的安慰剂，因为从更大的面上来说，这个故事并无足够的积极意义，也不意味着更多的改变。——这个故事里显然也是以一个巨大的改变和奇迹来鼓舞人心的，但它是以Erin的狂热和不顾一切牺牲为条件的。这种牺牲，除了可以被认为一种新任教师的职业激情和成就感的鼓舞之外，还有Erin作为民权运动者之女的改革锐气，以及最重要的，她爱人的决心和强大的行动力。——但是非常遗憾的是，这一切，都是很难要求和期待其他教师去做的，如果，他们的工作，只是一份工作的话。关键并不在教师怎么表现，其实关键仍然在于，机制，规则，Erin某种程度的革新，显然是得到了当权者的支持，先是董事，然后是教育局官员，但这种支持只是作为一种网开一面的特例发生的，其含义相当于“你想牺牲？那反正不占用我们的资源，就给你一个机会好了～”——而在她之外，并无人被制度鼓励、支持去进行改善。
没错，要么从业的人好，要么制度好（即便是局部的，比如说，一所学校），而这两者又是鸡和蛋的关系。那么，在制度之锁牢固且沉重的情形之下，我大概只能得出悲观的结论。同时希望大家都能足够幸运或是能够为自己选择更好的境遇，遇到好的机构和好老师。
《自由作家》影评(二)：Freedom Writer----an inspiring story
Our forign teacher showed this movie to us today,and it made us blurt out shouting like"Does American schools are so scared？", or "Why do they shot each other witout any reason？" at first.
Yes, it's a true story about gang and shoting and soul saving.A group of students who lived in terrible situstion and was aggressive with a brand new English teacher Mr.G started their important high school life together.
As far as I concere, conflict are spread everywhere.Those students hate the society,their teacher;Mr.G should face the doubt and disturb of those experienced and stubbon teachers;Mr.G hold different opinions about the meaning of helping those students with her husband and father;the conflict between those students;the conflict between traditional education and new education.Actually, those conflict makes the movie easy to move us ,inspire us,and educat us. We all think highly of those people who make magics. Mr.G and her stdents are such a group of people who conquered every conflict by communication,tolerance,fighting,and of cource loving.They pulled down the barrier between each other;they opened their heart to accept a new life;they persuaded others they are not someone hopeless;they began to broden their eyesight;and they were back to a right path.
All of the story are inspiring.Hower, Mr.G and her husband or boyfriend broke up because the change between the two. I don't know it means if Mr.G want to get some progress in teaching,she must lose something precious----her beloved husband. Does it really means if a woman like her who paies much attention to her career ,she doesn't love the man？she just love the image she drawed for that man？But in my opinion, it more likely to be that those two are not really suitable,and Mr.G's change is only a primacord of their break-up.Yeah,he couldn't stand to be her wife who support her career behind the stage.
Once those students were without hope, and they even don't imagine whether they can graduate.But, Mr.G helped them to think about life,change,and the right thing to do.And at the same time,Mr.G found her mission,and learnt something from them.
Of course,movie is full of dramatic spots and inspiring moments, but we can't demand every teacher to be so perfect like Mr.G, AND we should notice those teacher who tried to make difference, who are still brand new and full of passionate to educat students.
o much for this, I want to add that those music in the film are full of passion, I like it.
《自由作家》影评(三)：Everyone is created equal
This film delivers the expected messages about hope and the ability to change one’s destiny, and does it in a manner that it is emotionally and intellectually satisfying.
The film is set in Long Beach shortly after the L.A. riots. Hilary Swank plays Erin Gruwell, a crusading young woman who believes the way to stop racial hatred is to influence young minds. To that aim, Erin Gruwell applies to work in a forcibly integrated school where the students are divided into four camps: whites, Latinos, Cambodians, and blacks. At the beginning, she faces a great challenge in the school. Her lofty goals are not shared by her department head, Margaret Campbell, her ex-activist father, or her neglected husband. Erin’s first few days in class are a rude awakening. She finds that her students are a nightmare of all the teachers of the school. The students segregate themselves into racial groups in the classroom, fights break out, and eventually most of the students stop turning up to class. Not only does Erin meet opposition from her students, but she also has a hard time with her department head, who refuses to let her teach her students with books in case they get damaged and lost, and instead tells her to focus on teaching them discipline and obedience. Erin Gruwell manages to keep the children away from the hatred and dispel the hostility between them, but, as a white teacher, the children set up hard core wall to her. In this situation, her education ideal always hits the wall. However, in her efforts, the turning point emerges. A discussion about Hitler and the Holocaust opens unexpected doors and the teacher begins to connect with some of her students, including the hardcore Eva and the closed-off Andre. She devotes herself to caring about the life of her students. Erin hands out composition books and has the teenagers make daily entries. She gradually begins to earn their trust and buys them composition books to record their diaries, in which they talk about their experiences of being abused, seeing their friends die, and being evicted. Determined to reform her students, she takes two part-time jobs to pay for more books and spends more time at school, to the disappointment of her husband. Her students start to behave with respect and learn more as well. Unfortunately, her husband divorces her and Margaret tells her she cannot teach her kids for their junior year. She fights this decision, eventually convincing the superintendent to allow her to teach her kids' junior and senior year. The film ends with a note that Gruwell successfully brought many of her students to graduation and college. In 1999, those "assignments" were published as The Freedom Writers Diary, which is the source material for the movie.
The film does not deliberately create myth, and not try to render greatness of a person. It just tells us that everyone is created equal. Kindness and love is the instinct of a man. As long as we treat everyone with kindness and love, the world will become more peaceful.
《自由作家》影评(四)：真正的老师应该是学为人师，行为世范
从《百万美元宝贝》开始认识希拉里斯万克，那时上高三，每次紧张的月考过后老师都会给我们一个晚上大家坐在一起看电影，虽然那时的自己还是很不谙世事的，但是，奥斯卡影片的精彩之处就在于此，即，既能使下里巴人了解其深意，也符合高山流水者的品味。那时，希拉里的精彩演技还是深深打动了一个身处高三水深火热状态中的女学生的心。
现在的我再看希拉里的这部《街头日记》的时候已经是悠闲地坐在大学教室里了，电影的大致情节就是一个白人女老师去教一个各色人种和各种性格的人混合的班级，班级里充满了暴力，叛逆，吸毒，帮派，总之，每个人似乎都有自己的不幸，而每个人又都是那样的桀骜不逊，充满怨恨，对生活失去信心。这部影片至始至终符合传统好莱坞的拍片模式，最后的结果当然是那群学生都已经变得听话，守纪的皆大欢喜的结局。早已经知道这个结果的我只是想看一看Ms G是怎么样把一群那样不羁的孩子教好的，这个转变过程是怎样产生的。其实，我觉得所有的这种类型的电影最重要的看点就是一个好人怎样把一群我不能说是坏人，只能说是不那么好的人变成好人的，这个转变的过程是所有观众瞩目的焦点，也是这类电影之所以卖座的原因。
在这部片子中，MsG用的方法就是教那些孩子读书，试着去理解他们心中的痛，而不是像片中其他的教师一样一种完成任务式的，政府要求那些孩子来接受教育，好啊，我就让你接受教育，我的目的就是让你坐在教室里，教你课本知识，而学不学是你自己的事与我无关的态度。其实，我觉得那种淡漠是更加现实的，在真实的生活中，面对这样一群学生大部分老师的做法也都是像片中的那位男老师一样，只是尽力把自己的课教好根本不会去那样在意同学的心理健康，片中的MsG为了群孩子付出了很多，她是真正关心孩子们的生活而不仅仅是成绩，更是他们生活是不是幸福，是不是感到生活的意义。来到大学再回过头来看高中的学习，我觉得，一个好成绩的背后如果没有一个健康的人格那样的成绩有什么用，教育的根本目的绝不仅仅是得到好成绩，而是成为一名真正的人，对社会有用，能有自己个性和独立判断力的人。片中的msg,为了孩子们甚至跟丈夫离了婚，丈夫在和MsG对话的内容让我想了很多，丈夫问“你为什么要为那群孩子付出那么多呢？又没有人要求你非要这么做，”MsG的回答很耐人寻味，“为什么一定要别人要求呢？”在生活中，我们应该凭自己的良心去做的是，或者是应该做的事往往是别人要求之后我们才会去做，最让我印象深刻的例子是那个叫“北京厨子”的网民，他也只是一个特别普通的公民，但是，却能够那么积极地为与他基本上是没有任何关系的尘肺病患者奔走，筹款，虽然这个社会上这样的人不多，但是，一个真正健康的，真正社会主义的国家是应该有很多这样的人的，并且越多越好。
电影的情节虽然老套了点，但是，那种MSG身上的品格应该在更多的老师身上出现，这样的老师才真正是学为人师，行为世范。
《自由作家》影评(五)：民权运动之后的漫漫长路——从电影《自由作家》看教育在种族融合中的作用
[公选课《英美电影思想解读》课程的课程论文，感觉切入口较小，篇幅适当，写得还不错。基本表达了本人对美国自由派种族平权政策的认识和反思。]
好莱坞拍摄过很多关于学校教育的电影，也有很多描写种族问题的电影，但将两者有机联系起来的则并不多见，而能够像《自由作家》这样进行深入探讨的，更是少之又少。虽然从政治立场上看，《自由作家》提倡多元文化，宣扬种族平等与种族和解——并没有脱离美国正统自由派 思想的框架，但以教育为切入口的做法，以及对洛杉矶少数族裔社区帮派现象毫不避讳的直白展示，令此片极具现实意义。影片所揭露的事实，表明了从二十世纪六十年代黑人民权运动开始的种族融合进程，至今仍然步履维艰，少数族裔的生存环境仍然恶劣，族裔间偏见导致的仇杀普遍存在。那末，原因何在？解决之途何在？《自由作家》的剧情给观众提供了一个独特的分析视角。
一、从“参加过民权运动”的“父亲”说起
影片有个很有意思的设定，主角Erin Gruwell在初次和女部长谈话时提到，她的的父亲是一个“参加过民权运动”的人。这个“父亲”角色，在某种程度上也暗喻了当代美国人看待种族问题的出发点：经过二十世纪六十年代风起云涌的黑人民权运动，自由派民主党政府出台了一系列种族平权措施强行保障少数族裔的受教育权和平等地参与国家公共生活、获得各种福利的权利，当年那个具有严重种族歧视倾向和制度化的种族隔离政策的美国如今已不复存在。相应的，曾在美国南方地区猖獗多年的3K党等种族主义团体已经被边缘化，散布任何种族主义的言论都会使一个人名誉严重受损并丧失担任国家公职的机会。可以说，经过民权运动，在当今的美国，种族平等已经基本成为一种主流社会的共识，甚至内化为判断一个人“政治正确”与否的刚性的标准，针对少数族裔的制度性和政策性歧视已经基本不存在了。
但在法律条文和政府公文中的歧视消失了，并不意味着现实中歧视的消失。虽然少数黑人能够通过保障性的教育通道获得社会阶层的提升，但这毕竟是少数，大多数黑人的受教育程度和贫困程度依然远超白人，政治不平等之外的经济不平等是被相对固化的，而且短时间内也看不到改善的途径。诚如片中黑人少年所讲，他认识的黑人都是一贫如洗，除非会唱歌或者打球。同时，以“生物学种族主义”为基础的老种族主义消失了，但以文化偏见为基础的“新种族主义”依旧方兴未艾 。但部分白人同时认为自己已经给少数族裔足够的经济补偿，少数族裔若再有进一步要求就是得寸进尺，部分人甚至觉得白人族群受到了逆向歧视 ；少数族裔则依然囿于经济阶层无法提高，并持续忍受着白人始终存在的文化偏见。民权运动二三十年后，洛杉矶1992黑人暴动就昭示着一度拉近的民族鸿沟再一次的扩大。另一方面，二十世纪后半的移民潮流使得非洲裔以外的少数族裔人数大大增多，使美国的种族结构发生变化，也让不同族裔的帮派冲突成为美国社会的新问题。所以，在当下，民权运动的精神和政治遗产尚存，但已不足以解决各种新生的种族问题了，而新问题的解决亟待主流白人社会用一种新的眼光审视几十年来种族平权措施的收获和教训。
影片所述的故事发生在1994-1995年，正是美国多元文化的代表——洛杉矶，在暴动后重新反思以往种族融合政策的年代。
二、谁的美国？——种族融合的困境
《自由作家》的开头是一段关于1992年洛杉矶暴动的录像，以及一段Eva日记的摘选，短短三分钟时间里就把两对贯穿全片的矛盾呈现在观众面前：白人与少数族裔间的矛盾，和不同少数族裔之间的矛盾。前者的现实反映是经济不平等与警察暴力，洛杉矶暴动的原因就是因为美国警察打死黑人司机罗德尼•金却被判无罪而引发的；后者的现实反映则是帮派横行的洛杉矶下层街区。
Eva的几段自白包含着非常重要的信息。第一段中她在控诉白人警察时说“他们称我们的人为黑帮，因为我们为了我们的美国而战”。生活在单一制而且汉族占绝对人数优势的中国，我们可能不会去思考“谁的中国”的问题，但在种族结构错综复杂的美国，“谁的美国”无疑是一记有力的拷问。建国之初，《独立宣言》上的“We American People”多半仅指美国白人——即便包括黑人，也是按3/5折算后的黑人。后来经过南北战争、民权运动，黑人基本上算进入这个“我们”里面了，但后来的拉丁裔、亚裔、中东裔等少数族裔，其获得的种族优惠权利不仅远少于黑人，而且也同样被排斥在主流社会之外。因此，在Eva描述学校的长独白中，她又很自然而然地提到学校里的“小柬埔寨”、“犹太团体”、墨西哥裔群体和白人的圈子。以白人为主的中产阶级和上层社会享受整个社会充裕的物质和现代化带来的便捷，而由其他族群组成的庞大下层社会则分成各种各样的“小美国”在互相搏杀，末了继续受着白人居高临下的歧视。结果，虽然有种族融合政策，但白人根深蒂固的偏见排斥少数族裔的认同，也未能有效将少数族裔吸收进白人的认同中来，多元文化共存却无法融合，种族歧视和纷争的苗头就这样重新萌发了。
白人依然是歧视少数族裔的。虽然民权运动之后，主流社会不能再容忍赤裸裸的种族歧视行为或言论，但有意无意的偏见始终在流露着。片中的女部长对女主角说：“你只要让他们学习纪律和服从就行了”，以及女主角的丈夫无意间谈及203班学生时颇有一副“他们不是正常学生”的感觉，都表现出白人骨子里的种族优越感。联想到另一部探讨洛杉矶种族问题的著名影片《撞车》，里面的白人警察小伙虽然嘴上满口种族平等，但在面临黑人青年掏口袋时依然下意识拔出了自己手枪杀了人——这些行为虽然在影片中显得荒诞，但的确是白人社会中随处可见的现象，正是这种无意间的戒备心理，筑起了白人与少数族裔间的新屏障。加上政治和经济地位事实上的不平等，白人无意间的歧视就能造成对少数族裔的巨大伤害。所以非常能够理解Eva在含泪怒斥Erin Gruwell时说的那句“我知道你能做什么”——正如国家权力需要分权一样，当巨大的权力集中在一个族裔手中时，单纯的“能力”本身就构成了一种危险性。
少数族裔之间的仇恨，更像是前者的衍生。因为占有社会支配地位的白人的歧视和相互的仇恨，少数族裔的青少年无法得到高质量教育。而教育是公认的在现代社会完成阶层提升的不二途径。受不到良好的教育，没有一个基本的历史和思维训练，青年也不会正确地反思自己的处境。对于从小置身于“战争”环境的他们而言，死亡是获得荣耀的唯一方式——这在白人看来是无法想象的。导演在203班里放置了一个处处唯唯诺诺，整天担惊受怕的白人角色，那种极强的不协调感正表现了美国主流白人社会与底层少数族裔之间的巨大隔膜。而对于旁观者的我们来说，白人的偏见造成了少数族裔青少年的这种“蒙昧”状态，也只有白人的觉悟才能激发少数族裔的觉悟。
所以说，这部影片从给定的时代背景中向观众展现了一个种族融合的困境：一方面，种族共存的确给美国社会带来了很多改变，不同族群听着同样的嘻哈和说唱音乐，吃着各国风味的食品，穿着类似的服饰。但另一方面，歧视和冲突从未走远，各种名目繁多的平权法律、计划和基金会，无法消弭固有的偏见和障壁，真正的融合必须激发不同族裔主动参与融合的意愿和行动——而提供这种意愿最佳的方式，就是教育。但在教育系统被偏见围绕之时，还要冲破这种族的壁垒，就需要一个冒失的闯入者，Erin Gruwell 恰好担任了这个闯入者的角色。
三、教育的作用与“自由”的含义
Erin Gruwell是一名教师，教师的职责是教授知识。但她眼前的学生对知识不感兴趣，所以她最初的困惑就是如何让她的学生“对这些书感兴趣”。她自己也没有想到，她单纯的初衷和母爱般的天性，能够支撑她做了如此之多别人想都不敢想的事情。
那么Erin是如何行动的呢？首先，她在发现学校只是一个缩小版城市的残酷现实后，从一张嘲讽漫画开始，将学校试图用纪律和秩序掩盖的种族歧视问题摆上了台面。虽然她对学生的说教以及关于死亡意义的质问，让学生恨上了自己，但这番演讲的震慑力失她的话对于学生而言不再是耳旁风。在后来她与Cohn博士的对话中，Erin提到“他们除了相互憎恨外，最憎恨的就是我了”，Cohn也半开玩笑地回答“你团结了他们，这也是一种进步”。这虽然是玩笑，但也不妨看作一种是一个事实：仇恨白人的确是少数族裔最大的共同点，接下来要做的就是让学生了解老师，努力取得学生的信任。
在第二阶段，Erin用白人自身的惨痛教训——纳粹大屠杀，来向学生警示种族歧视的危害，鼓励学生走出长滩，到外面的世界参观大屠杀博物馆，用阅读开拓学生的视野，同时提高他们的学习水平。在多次筹款请来荷兰的Miep Gies来为同学做演讲后，Erin终于完全取得了学生的信任，也让203班凝结为一个团结的集体。
Erin第三阶段的行动是与隐藏在学校教育系统内的官僚主义和种族偏见的斗争。这也是非常重要的环节。203班的学生们通过自己的努力，接受了教育并实现了小团体内的融合后，终于有了一致的意愿对外抗争，争取自己的权利。这一内涵就使这种抗争不仅让Erin和学生们获得了现实的权利，也具有一种象征意义，犹如当年的民权志士Freedom Riders不分种族驱车从北到南横越美国一样。
Erin给学生的日记集所取的名称其实是非常值得深思的一个概念。“自由”（freedom或liberty）一词在西方政治学语境中有很多层次的含义 ，其内涵也有很多不同的意见，但一般认为可以概略地分为消极自由与积极自由。消极自由的即“有权做一切无害于他人的任何事情” ，这是一个“被赋予”的状态。这种状态在美国黑人民权运动过后，少数族裔事实上已经处于这种“自由”之中了。然而他们依旧生活在真正的“自由”之外，这种自由是积极的自由。对这种“积极自由”，笔者认为，首要的条件不是外界的状态，而最重要的是一种内心的意愿（will），这种意愿驱使人不断改变自身的不利处境，奋发向上。其次，积极自由不仅是个人的自由，而应当与集体的自由相协调。达到了这种自由的状态，对洛杉矶社会而言，就是多种族多元文化相融合的完满状态。而这种“意愿”的产生，就离不开像Erin这样的教育者的存在。所以，像Erin这种真正反种族歧视的教育，才是当代美国社会克服种族矛盾，实现种族融合的必经之路。仅仅依靠民权运动的遗产，依靠僵化的政策和无所适从的大笔资金，是不可能最终打破各族群之间的藩篱的。
但无论如何，对种族主义的斗争不是靠几代人的奋斗就能取得胜利的，美国民权运动至今没有结束，在未来也不会很快就结束。但前路漫漫，只要有正确的方向，总有到达终点的一天。
四、余论
前文叙述了很多《自由作家》这部影片的优点，但若根据笔者上述的分析，该片的好莱坞式的大团圆结局似乎成为全片最大的遗憾：Erin的最终留任，实际上使她自己留在了作为学生的“保姆”的位置上。诚如大反派女部长所言，如果Erin自信她的教学是成功的，那就不用担心203班这个集体在有了新的老师后会崩解。虽然可能是因为导演考虑到影片的传记片性质，需要忠实于现实事件，但在这个关键剧情上过于遵循现实，可能导致影片思想高度的降低。这时对现实进行适当的改编和艺术加工，反而能在更高的层面上“忠于现实”。所以，笔者认为，如果最终让Erin离开并激励学生用自己的努力证明她的教育是成功的，可能是一个更好的结局。
参考电影：
Freedom Writers, 2007
Crash, 2004
参考书目：
[英]安东尼•吉登斯：《社会学（第4版）》，北京：北京大学出版社，2005年
钱满素：《美国自由主义的历史变迁》，北京：生活•读书•新知三联书店，2006年
《自由作家》影评(六)：一部经典，催人奋进
昨天刚看了这部影片，真的很感动，我几乎哭了。这是一个由真实故事改编而来的电影，希拉里·斯万克用百分百的真情演绎了艾恩·格鲁维尔。
什么样的女性叫伟大呢，可以用电影里两个镜头来表示。一个是艾恩·格鲁维尔的老公因为相比自己爱人的崇高而自惭，迫不得已选择离开妻子；一个是艾恩·格鲁维尔的父亲对着自己的女儿说出的一句话：“What you've done with those kids, I don't even have words for it. But one thing is for sure, you're an amazing teacher. I envy you and I admire you.”
没有什么事是做不到的，只要你愿意付出，愿意牺牲，一切皆有可能。
《自由作家》影评(七)：阳光一直在
因为满天星公益，而得知了这样一部电影——《自由作家》；于是，在从珠海前往广州的车上，边看边感动得热泪盈眶。
这是一个很简单的故事。一个热情洋溢的年轻女老师爱林，凭借着她对学生的那份爱、那份责任心，煞费苦心地运用各种方式，终于改变了一群早已对社会绝望的黑人学生，让阳光照耀到了他们的身上，让他们打开了封闭已久的心房，重拾了生活的信心。
这又是一个很打动人心的故事。没有过多的煽情，没有过分的感情渲染，而在那点点滴滴的细节中却无不透露着一名老师对学生的全部关爱与真情。爱林为她的学生积极争取公平的教育资源，即便遭受了校方领导的阻拦，亦毫不退却；她绞尽脑汁地采用花样百出的教学方式，玩“一条线”游戏、开Party、送给学生们日记本鼓励他们写日记；为了筹钱带领学生们外出参观旅行，她利用下班时间做兼职；她将自己的全部精力与时间投注于学生的身上，甚至为此遭遇了丈夫的不满，无奈离婚。为了教师这一职责，为了一群黑人学生，付出、牺牲这么多终究值得么？当爱林目睹学生的点滴改变，当她看到被其他教师笃定不会挨到毕业的黑人学生们坚持到了最后，当她见证了她的学生从拉帮结伙、封闭自我、各成一派的小团体中走出来时，她一定是骄傲并无比欣慰的吧。
如此理想化的老师，如此温暖人心的故事情节，很难让人相信它居然是真实的，它居然曾经在这个世界的某个地方生动上演过。听过了太多悲惨的故事，见过了太多世态炎凉，大概也已习惯了不负责任的教师、不会被改变的不平等待遇，于是，当美好摆在面前时，反倒让人开始怀疑它的真实性。
然而，无论你目睹过多少黑暗和腐朽，这世间也总有阳光雨露；无论你遭遇过多少丑陋的人，这世界也总有人在播撒善良的种子。所有的阴暗都不该被当作你不相信美好的借口，因为阳光一直在，即便微弱。
如果你有梦想，就一定看得见太平洋海水和梦中的一样蓝；如果你相信自己的力量，就一定可以实现改变、创造奇迹。
《自由作家》影评(八)：Freedom Writers
What is the picture of America in your mind？ Tall buildings, high-tech, and fantastic movies in Hollywood…America is a dreamland for most people. It is a country which is filled with exciting adventures, top fashion, romantic love, and modern life. Actually, it is the world of America. However, there is still another world hided in the shadow of these fantastic things. The Freedom Writers unveils the cover of the hided world. It is the world which is filled with gang violence and racial tension. It is still America. But it is not the America in your dream.
Maybe you will be confused by the title of the movie. It is not a story of the real writers. It is a story of some rebellious students. Freedom Writers is a 2007 American drama film starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton and Patrick Dempsey. It is adapted from the book The Freedom Writers Diary by teacher Erin Gruwell who wrote the story based on Woodrow Wilson Classical high School in Long Beach, California. It is a story about transformation. A group of people was abandoned by the world and saved by the brief. It is not just a story on the screen. It can be anyone’s story. Maybe it is yours.
The movie is real but out of the common. It shows a hard journey that some students who are labeled as “at-risk” and “unteachable” get rid of the past shadow with the help of their teacher, Erin Gruwell. Maybe you don’t know the history of segregation and the multiracial problems in America. You still can understand how badly the students who are labeled as “backward student” are treated. You still can understand how hard for these kinds of students to own a bright life. The movie calls up something my inner self. The hided world in America, which is neglected by us for a long time, harms some people. But there are still some people have the courage to choose their own life. They light the lamp for themselves. They stand up in the bad situation.
Your life is what you choose. I am impressed by Eva in the movie. She is a Hispanic girl and narrator for much of the film. She was surrounded by the racial hatred and gang wars since she was a child. She was affected by the kind of life. But a murder changed her life. One night, Eva’s boyfriend accidentally killed Sindy’s boyfriend. Eva became a witness. She must testify in court.
Formerly she must protect her own people in her testimony. But she learned something different from her teacher Eric. She hesitated to make the choice. For the benefit of her, she should against the law to lie. For the fair, she should tell the truth to the judge. “To be or not to be” is not one person’s problem. How to choose？ What is the right thing for her？ It is a kind of torture for her. Finally she chose to tell the truth, much to some of her family members’ dismay. The gang members caught her. It was the breathtaking moment. I was so afraid. Fortunately, for the respected for Eva’s father, the former gang members decided not to kill her. But she was abandoned by her father and her family. It is a turning point for her. She got a chance to change and went far away from gang life. I am happy for her and think a lot. How to control our own destiny？ People make history; unusual people make history interesting; unlucky people can make their own history. The answer is answered.
The past evil thing is still alive in the modern world. We don’t understand the segregation. We think it belongs to the past and is pulverized by the history. We don’t understand the gang war. We think it only exist on the screen. Now we know the cruel life is still alive, even in America. How hard it is for these students in that situation. How shocking for us to know it. The movie widens our horizon. We know more and think more. If I were a girl in such situation, what should I have done？ I don’t know. No accurate answers. Everyone makes the choice by themselves. It is not only the fight in outside world, but also the fight inside world. You need to win yourself. In the movie Eva shows us how to fight in her heart.
esides her, in the movie all students make their choice fighting against original themselves. They are lucky and brave. Maybe you can learn to evoke yourself from them. The woman teacher, Eric Gruwell, is the angel for the students. She is responsible, warm-hearted, and tenacious—she is an admiring teacher. She makes her students become the new people. It is the best rewarding thing for her. Her father said: “What you’ve done with those kids…I don’t even have words for it. But one thing for sure, you are an amazing teacher. Special. You have been blessed with a burden, my daughter. And I envy you that. And I admire you.” She is not only the teacher but also a doctor—save those whose spirit is crushed.
All in all, it is an unmissable movie. You will be touched and inspired. The movie is a teacher for us. The plot is attractive and compact. The soundtracks touch your heart deeply. You will know more about the America. The movie deserves your appreciation. Don’t miss it.
《自由作家》影评(九)：Film Review: Freedom Writer
y Chandler Chan陈舒扬 英语2班 122214101202 Like every time I wrote a movie review, before jumping into the details of the film, I would like to go through its cast members first. Hilary Swank is the leading role of this film, I do not know much about her, but I am informed that she is a two-time Oscar winner. The last time I saw her was being a cameo in New Year’s Eve. Very ashamed to say that compared with other stars in that film, I just judged her as not pretty enough at that time. But having seen this film, I am highly impressed by her performance. Her acting is very professional and believable. Imelda Staunton, who is often remembered as the most hated role Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films, always plays those annoying middle-aged ladies, which can be also seen in Romeo + Juliet, Sense and Sensibility, Shakespeare in Love and The Girl in my watchlist. In Freedom Writer, again, she shoulders the major and typical “bad guy” Margaret Campbell, the only difference from pervious bothersome ones I can tell is perhaps that she speak American accent this time. Erin’s husband is played by the good-looking Patrick Dempsey, I saw him in Enchanted and Valentine’s Day, the handsome husband or father most of time. All three of them gave tremendous acting in the Freedom Writer. I wasn’t paying attention to any shortcoming of the film, because I was so engrossed to the amazing Swank. Imelda Staunton in Dr .John’s office and Patrick Dempsey deciding to leave both nearly moved me to tears, very impressive and touching. As someone who has already been determined to become a teacher one day, and dedicated to the teaching career probably the whole life, I showed my great enthusiasm to the films about teachers. I have seen several good teachers’ films, like Front of the Class, Never give up, because nothing can beat love; Dead Poets Society, Oh captain, my captain; and The History Boy , I can still clearly recall Hector saying, pass it on, pass it on. And this particular film immediately reminds me of The Ron Clark Story with one of my favorite actor Matthew Perry, both are talking about a newcome teacher changing greatly his or her students, who are normally considered hopeless and incurable. And most importantly, these two films are based on true stories, and real prototypes do exist around us. What is the ultimate duty of a teacher？Make a difference, and make it counts, to the students you educated. That’s how I value this position, and also what Erin Gruwell has been doing in every single day of her teaching life. The film is talking about how Erin made a class of so called “helpless” students find their life back to the way that they are supposed to walk on. At the beginning of the film, Eva declared it’s a war, many of her classmates mentioned that as well. In a certain degree, I agree with her. Different groups of different races ,or backgrounds ,or interests eventually are fighting all the time with each other in our real world, just like what happened in that school, people in the same group gather together to gain the biggest benefits for themselves, and reduce as much as benefits of others by all means. But at the other hand, though the violence among gangsters within school is undoubtedly appalling, it cannot be counted as a war. They are only teenagers, and they thought what they were doing was something marvelous and hugely worthwhile. In fact, as what Erin has been skillfully and subtly proved, it was simply a piece of pointless doodles crap. She compared the inner school gang fights with the holocaust, which involves countries and countries causing millions of people to die. But to her and absolutely my surprises, they didn’t even know the holocaust. Therefore, at that moment, she finally perceived that the most urgent need is to let them start to actually learn something. Also from that moment, Erin discovered there were some commons in her students. No matter what races they are, they share the same identity, namely, the minority. They all hate white people, they all receive unequal treatments, and more importantly, they are all suffering. She made a little game called Line Game, which let them realize they were, as a matter of fact, all in a same one group. So the first step above is to convince them into a same side, and secondly, to set the same enemy in front of them, not each other, not the white people, but the persons they used to be, by allowing them truly know about the holocaust and feel respected through the tour. At last, she set an example for them to empathize and model after, Anna Frank, and even successfully invite the woman who helped the Franks into the classroom. The woman gave an anti-heroes speech to those students by showing them what the true hero is. Through all of these, it gradually comes to the young that wining the gang war is not an hero, the hero wins the war between him and himself, and just do what he has to do, because it is the right thing to do. That is exactly where the purpose of education lies in, isn’t it？ to teach students to distinguish right from wrong, and stick to it to make a better person. So we can find that when Eva was about to give her testimony, she spoke the truth. Because from the class family she learned that every one is in the misery, having his own family, and deserve to be treated right and equally, whatever one’s race or group is. There should not be gangs, and even if there is a gang, everyone is the gang member of it. Seeing them transferred so much, hugging and dancing together now, Even Eva and the Asian girl, who personally witnessed Eva’s friend shot hers, I was deeply touched, and sincerely admired what Erin had done as a qualified teacher and strong woman. Speaking of such a strong female Erin Gruwell is, apart from how Erin taught their students step by step, we may move to her personal life, two vital relationships with her father and husband. The father used to be an enthusiastic Civil Rights campaigner. What made him so indifferent to what her daughter had been trying to do, which is exactly included by the Civil Rights movement？ And I dare say, His influence to Erin from a very young age must be part of, or probably the most of the reason why she became so dedicated to or even obsessed with bring those students equal rights. Near the end of film, this father told the exhausted Erin that he envied her, and how many fathers could have the chance to say that. Not only because he felt so proud of her that merely taking pride in her seemed not enough , but also because his daughter had done something that he himself might never be able to do in his life, his beloved daughter literally surpassed him, and made herself an excellent successor to what he belongs to, isn’t that every parents’ biggest dream？ But how did he loss his passion and faith, I am afraid to judge that the society ought to be blamed mostly. Growing up and being mature can be considered purely as a process of learning to compromise and adapt, a process of de-romanticizing. How we viewed the world before endangered great collapses with what you later saw in the real world, people may feel like being disserted, by themselves, and betrayed by their parents and schools. The delicate bubbles we had been carefully building since we were little kids could be cruelly and completely destroyed only in one night. Most people thought they were young, they didn’t have to give in to the reality so soon, but when one day they found that time had rubbed down their ambitions, age had corrupted their personalities, it was finally realized that they started to miss the person who they were at the very beginning. Essentially speaking, we are not living in the world that has been destroyed, but distorted. When you standing in front of me, looking at me, can you feel the sadness in my heart, and can you feel the sadness in your heart？ We are silent. Not because we don’t have anything to say, nor we cannot say them, we just don’t where to start？ Probably, we are not waiting for some one or some event, but the time, waiting for the time to bring us changes, to give us answers. However, as what Tagore once wrote we read the world wrong and say that it deceives us. Fortunately, the life-long achievement obtained by Erin strongly proves that one’s ideal would not be necessarily doomed in the end. If you really devoted yourself to it, you could and would reach that final point you’ve always desired. I think that is one of the bright sides that the film is meaning to deliver. Sadly, when someone really devoted himself to a certain career, that person might not be capable of sparing time with other items in individual’s life. That is the exact same consequence happened to Erin. The husband left her. To some extent, I do understand this poor man, who cannot even spend time with his wife. But mostly, I look down upon him, he does not appreciate the true meaning of being supportive, it’s not just speaking few words on his wife’s side on the table with father-in-law, but truly helping her get over any obstacles side by side, hand in hand. Not having enough sex time, seems to me, constitutes mainly the reason why he abandoned the woman he claimed to be in love with. If you like a person, naturally, you would be of great desire to occupy and get hold of him or her. But if you love a person, actually, you would be willing to witness this person to be who he or she really wants to be, and happy about your love being truly happy, the people who like you want your present, the people who love you want your future. That’s how like and love to be distinguished, and how true love to be properly defined. Therefore, I would say Erin’s husband does sincerely love her, but just like her. And she do not need to be so upset about the divorce, because she has received so much true love from others, from his father, from her students and students, and from all the kindness of the society. Finally, Freedom Writer is a very enjoyable film, with outstanding casts and an impressive story. Having a teacher like Erin Gruwell is a great fortune. She sets a model for the followers to look up, she encourages teachers to realize their duty, and she also encourages everyone to pursuit their dreams, that is what the hero is, the hero from the ordinary, and of the ordinary. Being an great English has always been my dream, so I desire to talk a little bit about myself at the end of this film review. On that job, I might be able to realize my full potential because that’s where my interest lies on. Do what I like, like what I do. I believe, driven by the interest, I can be fully devoted to my work and really make some difference. I am not expecting that I can be a teacher like Erin in this film , but I will do my beat and see what will happen. And most of my teachers, who totally proves the saying that a good teacher explain a good teacher inspire, encourage me to show my initiative rather than simply cram knowledge into my brain. Sometimes they can be a little bit exam-oriented, but performances in the final examination do need to put much stress on after all. Total:2023words
《自由作家》影评(十)：Freedom Writers
我以为我写过这部电影的观感了，可是真的还没有。我想起来自己很早之前看过这部电影，不断地重复看。每一次不能说都有新的收获，但是会让我的生活更加清晰。生命不能比量，生活不能对照，但我想我真的已经足够了。我希望这不是我自己想的太多，而是仅仅对生命的的尊重。
不仅是南京大屠杀，犹太屠杀，任何无辜的生命都在这个世上鲜明的存在过。我们很自由，真的足够了。
压力，人际，考试，亲人，都不再是问题。心里有一本日记，就看怎样写下去。 先到此，下次再看时，继续写吧。我想写作还是最美好的事情，不仅看得人觉得好，写的人同样美好。