To broaden your perspectives, you will usually have to go through a variety of live events and a fair amount of adversity. Sometimes, however, it is possible to side-step personal struggles and still get to learn about the world. How? By witnessing the experiences of others. And courtesy of the written word, a lot of people have been able to write their memories down and share them with the world.
Over the past century, however, society has slowly shifted towards a visual representation of events. So, instead of focusing on maximizing book sales, a lot of authors are happy to turn their stories into movies. Doing so helps make their experiences much easier to digest as the viewers will be able to go through the entirety of the storyline in just an hour or two. Thus, the past century has been a time when an innumerable number of monumental movies have been produced.
Gran Torino
Understanding what war does to a soldier is often beyond the comprehension of a person that did not experience it first-hand. With “Gran Torino,” however, Clint Eastwood was able to depict the state of mind of a Korean War veteran who is adjusting to a lonely life after his wife’s passing. Ironically, the veteran finds himself living in a neighborhood that is heavily Asian. So, the movie goes on to follow his evolution from stereotype-driven racism to a great friendship and an ultimate sacrifice for his Asian friend. Of course, the fact that Clint Eastwood was involved further establishes the project’s credibility as this mastermind alone has five Oscars from a dozen nominations.
The Intouchables
Originally recorded as a French movie, “The Intouchables” is a movie based on a real story that occurred between Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou. These two come from opposite sides of life as one is an incredibly rich businessman who is a diabetic quadriplegic, and the other is a poor conman. When they meet, however, the cultural differences and an enormous gap placed between them by society disappears. Instead, they become close friends as the caregiver does everything in his power to make his quadriplegic client’s life more bearable. Courtesy of some unorthodox activities that the caregiver comes up with and his client is more than happy to try, the movie is a very unpredictable turn of events that are bound help one learns about human connections and kindness.
The Godfather
Although it may sound like a far-reaching statement to say that “The Godfather” is a great movie that helps broaden life views, it definitely is. It was able to capture the crude lifestyle of an Italian mafia that moved to the United States. More importantly, according to a movie aficionado Joel Tucker, the main character’s transition from a model citizen and a war hero to a heartless mob leader who kills his own brother is truly impeccable. Naturally, such a complex role had to be portrayed by a legend himself, and the producers hired nobody other than Al Pacino. Moreover, the movie features other brilliant performers such as Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. Thus, learning those life lessons from such an outstanding line-up will not require much effort.
American Sniper
Although most of the public knows that the United States Navy SEALs are amongst the most elite military units in the world, that is generally where their knowledge ends. The film “American Sniper,” however, goes into much more depth of what these warriors go through and how cruel certain war-affected regions of the world are. Based on an autobiographical book by a SEAL Team III sniper, Chris Kyle, the movie goes through his four deployments and more than 160 confirmed kills. More importantly, it shows a brutal side of war that no civilian will ever have the displeasure of experiencing. Nevertheless, the brotherhood between Kyle’s platoon and other soldiers teaches invaluable lessons of trust, courage, and leadership. Not to mention that this is another brilliant piece created by Clint Eastwood.
Scent of a Woman
Ultimately, Joel Tucker advises everyone to watch “Scent of a Woman.” This intense drama revolves around a blind veteran that is portrayed by Al Pacino who won an Oscar for this performance. Also, the movie showcases a young student who works as Pacino’s travel guide and carries large baggage of his own. Regardless, they are able to find a common language and get over the enormous discrepancies in ideologies, age, actions, goals, and so on.
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