Compiled From Various News Sources
Here are excerpts of reviews from some of the top film critics regarding the film He Named Me Malala.
The Guardian says:
The title of Davis Guggenheim’s uplifting account of Malala Yousafzai’s heroic battle for female education and empowerment offers a strange twist on that of her inspirational memoir, I Am Malala. Blending sumptuous animation with harrowing news footage and enchanting domestic interviews, Guggenheim builds a portrait of a nurturing family who are at once reassuringly ordinary yet utterly extraordinary.
This documentary serves as a stirring tribute to an indomitable young woman whose story doesn’t really need a lush Thomas Newman score to pluck at your heartstrings and inspire your devotion.
HuffPo puts in:
Davis Guggenheim’s documentary filmed over 18 months looks beyond Malala the activist to her life in Birmingham and we see a self-assured, warm, intelligent and compassionate teenager, at ease with her family and proud of her Pashtun culture with her father Ziauddin as prominent a figure as his famous daughter but what nags is the sparse reference to the Taliban, fundamentalism and the family’s relationship to their fellow villagers in the Swat Valley.
The New York Times taps in to the movie:
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 Malala’s fame. The film doesn’t particularly examine the price of Western superstardom. 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.
The Washington Post is flattered:
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim has made an affectionate and moving portrait of Malala that also paints her as remarkably brave, poised, funny, articulate, smart, self-aware, resilient and curious. It is when Malala talks about changing the world that you actually might start to believe that this kid, who is still only 18, could someday make a difference. If there’s a quibble with the film, it’s that it glosses over what it’s like to grow up in the glare of worldwide celebrity. Guggenheim is clearly in awe of her. By the end of He Named Me Malala, you may be, too.
Malala was shot by Taliban when she 15-year-old for supporting girls education. The film gives us insight of the extraordinary young girls’ life. The film is directed by Davis Guggenheim.
