MovieChat Forums > I Am David (2004) Discussion > I was really touched by 'I am David'

I was really touched by 'I am David'

posted 12 years ago by carol1729
2 replies | jump to latest

I don't care about the cinematography or the direction or the musical score or the scenery. This movie hit me on an extremely heavy emotional level. To be honest, I started to cry about half way through and just couldn't stop sobbing. I'm crying even now as I write this.

Not only does it reach me on the level of asking questions like David does about how can people be so cruel to one another, but beyond that into how can the rest of us not be reaching out to stop oppression and cruelty; how can we allow even one person, one child to be harmed? And what can we be doing to stop it because we all know it really is still going on all over the world.

It also was extremely cathartic for me as I'm looking at my own life and my own lack of trust in people and realizing all I really want in life is to be safe and to be loved and to trust in that. I've wanted it my whole life. And yet my existence has been nothing like David's at all. Only the emotion is similar.

And yet David feels little. (And here I am addressing the acting and the directing.) David has shut himself away from all emotion. He doesn't even see the truth about the death of his friend in his memories until near the end of the movie. He has lost so much and has had so little hope that he has totally blocked himself off.

As it is, his inability to feel emotions, just makes more of an impact each time it hits us as an audience when we realize what events he has gone through. As the movie progresses, he begins to open up and feel but he has a long way to go.

Even at the end, when he finds his mother and she holds him, he only has a little smile - that's all he can do for now. If this were a real person, at some point, he'd need to have his own release of emotion some time in his future to come to terms with what he's been through.

I haven't read the book, so I can't speak to what message the author meant to relay to readers, but I think the movie has a strong and definite message and puts it across EXACTLY. No question at all in my mind!

[–] jdown-1 11 years ago

Yours was a well-written & thoughtful post, Carol. However, I'm sorry, but the kid pretty much sank the film single-handedly. I expect we cannot blame him, as he may have been giving director Feig what he wanted. Namely, a boy whose life in a prison camp left him, as you say, unable to smile or feel emotions, one who is fearful of people and of life. But the decision to carry this plot point to the extreme was a disastrous one.

Tout homme a deux pays, le sien et puis la France.

[–] ablack90 8 years ago

I agree with your post, OP. The kid is a fantastic actor and this movie is a tear-jerker.

...his inability to feel emotions, just makes more of an impact each time it hits us as an audience when we realize the events he's gone through. As the movie progresses, he begins to open up and feel but he has a long way to go.

Exactly. The subtext of all his emotions was palpable in the film. As if it was almost an entire other character. And yes, we all know that fine line between needing to trust in order to have happiness, yet needing to stay away for safety. I thought Joan Plowright's character, Sophie, described that fine line, masterfully.