Monday, February 28, 2011

Amelia - Movie review

Watched 'Amelia' - a movie on the first female aviatrix Amelia Earheart (1897-1937). Amelia was a known author, pioneer and activist, most famous for flying solo across the Atlantic for which she was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross by the US. While attempting to fly around the world, her plane disappeared in the Pacific in mysterious fashion.

With a star cast that included Hillary Swank who plays Amelia and Richard Gere as George Putnam the publishing tycoon, among others, Mira Nair comes up with a fairly straightforward story. Amelia's achievements are shown like in a newsreel, her love affair with Putnam first and the aborted one with Vidal, who becomes  an aviation minister later, are rather insipid. The solo flight first, her public appearances, and then the circumnavigational flight around the globe remain as academic milestones. The rise of a celebrity who endorsed several brands, her own clotheswear with AE as the brand, speaks how much America had advanced as a capitalist country even then. Not too much to take away from the movie save the fact that it brings into focus a great  achiever and pioneer like Amelia Earheart.

It has a newsreel kind of look and feel to me which never carried it to any great heights. But it served the purpose of making me read up more on the amazing Amelia Earheart. Her early childhood is normal but it is the way she takes to flying, the way she realises that this is what she had to do and works for it is interesting in her story. Apparently, after a short ride in a plane, she worked as a truck driver, a photographer and other odd jobs to raise the $1000 to take flying lessons. It is pretty clear - all those who went on to make it big went after it with single minded pursuit - and worked for it through whatever obstacles.

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