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Bookmark this pageThe First Grader (2010)
Director: Justin Chadwick
Movie review
From Time Out London
It’s funny how ‘real life’ sometimes conforms so closely to hackneyed patterns of screenwriting. This is the true story of Maruge (Oliver Litondo), an eightysomething man in rural Kenya who took at face value the ‘free education for all’ message of a newspaper article and demanded a place in a primary school.British director Justin Chadwick (‘The Other Boleyn Girl’) and South African writer Ann Peacock (‘Country of My Skull’) mainly set this limp drama in and around the schoolroom where firm-but-kind teacher Jane (Naomie Harris) reluctantly accepts Maruge into her fold, despite opposition from the authorities. There are also trips to the capital for conflicts with central bureaucracy and to the past to exorcise Maruge’s colonial-era demons. The film’s repeated journeys of conflict followed by acceptance are simplistic and obviously calculated to be uplifting. Yet for all its faults, the heart of ‘The First Grader’ is in the right place and it just about works as a basic inspirational tale for youngsters. At least they didn’t cast Morgan Freeman in the lead.
Author: Dave Calhoun
Time Out London Issue 2131: 22 – 28 June, 2011
User reviews of this film
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- John Ellis said...
- Posted on Oct 18 2011 07:53 I saw the film last night out here in Cardigan. I didn't recognize the review above, which fails to mention the severe criticism of the British behaviour during the Mau-mau uprising in the '50s. Maybe the reviewer was into collective amnesia like some of the Kenyans in the film.
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- paul said...
- Posted on Sep 24 2010 00:41 saw this film at Toronto film festival and it was brilliant - a real breath of fresh air, and certainly the audience watching with me loved it - got a standing ovation! Couldn't recommend more.
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Cast & crew
Director: Justin Chadwick
Cast: Naomie Harris, Oliver Litondo
Genre(s): Drama
Rated: 15
Duration: 98 mins
UK Release: Jun 24 2011
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