“Independence, Freedom and Liberation,” are pretty heavy words, aren’t they? I have come across these words for an uncountable number of times. One could define these words as “to release” or “to set free from servitude”. Back then, I easily understood what “to release” meant, but “servitude” it’s quite a new word for me. “Chuck it!” I said to myself. What else could you expect from a lazy going college lad?
‘Schindler’s List’, I heard a senior from my college yell it 3-4 times on his cell. Probably the person on the other side, was not able to get the name in the first go just like I couldn’t! I thought it was related to science or stuff. So dumb of me! Then again, I happen to cross paths with this name and this time it was one of my friends. He went on babbling about it and used words like “servitude” and “liberation”. “That’s it!” I told myself. Went straight to my hostel. Knocked at one of my hostel mates’ door and asked him what exactly was ‘Schindler’s List’? This person was preparing for Civil Services examination, so I thought that he could help me figure it out. He handed over his laptop to me, which was very hefty by the way and told me I would find ‘Schindler’s List’ in it. So I came back to my room, switched the laptop on and finally discovered the folder named ‘Schindler’s List’ which turned out to be a movie. A sigh of relief! This was back in 2010. That’s when I watched it for the first time and I was speechless. I handed back the laptop and I was asked about the movie. I kept mum because, the movie had shaken my soul. So, for the past 10 years it has become a ritual of mine to watch this movie at least twice a year. ‘Schindler’s List’ was released in the year 1993, starring Liam Neeson.
Oscar Schindler, Itzhak Stern, Amon Goeth, Helen Hirsch and other countless characters from this movie have had a great impact on my understanding of the word “servitude”. So, whats so great about this movie, one could ask and my answer would be “Everything!” I’m not going to talk about the story or the plot. Neither am I going to portray a character sketch nor point out the direction of the movie, which is spell-binding indeed. All that I want to say is, if one truly wishes to understand the meaning of “liberation” & “servitude”, then ‘Schindler’s List’ is something you can’t afford to skip. My analysis of this movie is that, “Liberation and servitude aren’t mere words, rather feelings and emotions witnessed through unspoken horrors committed on Jews by the Germans during the Second World War.”
Since we have ended the last paragraph with the word “war”, a word associated with it is “freedom”. Well, there are many shades of freedom and all of them are good, but the point to remember here is that, your pleasure of freedom shouldn’t be at the cost of others’ pain. This could be aptly pictured in a plot, where a young banker is falsely accused of murdering his beautiful wife and her lover, and is sent to serve two consecutive life terms at Shawshank. I’m sure you might have guessed the movie by now. It’s ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in lead roles.
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is another masterpiece, which treats the concept of “freedom” in terms of individuality. It also paints this perception of “hope” which helps a person to redeem themselves from pain and agony. The movie was released in 1994 and is termed as a modern classic. I can firmly state that ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ must be watched at least once before we depart from this planet. The line, “Hope is a good thing. May be the best of the things and no good thing ever dies.” from this movie, has turned me into a hardcore optimist in life.
“Optimism”, yet another bulky word. One mustn’t only be optimistic, but also realistic. When, we, Indians, fought off the Britishers to gain independence, our freedom fighters made sure that they executed their optimism through various movements across the country. This is how we were able to achieve independence.
Gaining independence from someone or something has always been a serious issue. One would rarely transform its seriousness into laughter. After talking about two super serious films, it’s time that I tell you about a movie that projects the theme of independence in a hilarious manner. The movie is ‘The Interview’, starring James Franco, Seth Rogan, Randall Park and Diana Bang in lead roles. So, one might ask “Why’s this movie funny?” Well, when two journalists are “honey-potted” (Google it later :p) in a plan to assassinate the Supreme Leader of North Korea and the events that take place while executing the plan, will for sure make you roll on the floor laughing. The symbolism of the famous song ‘Fireworks’ by Katy Perry in this movie stands quite ironic to the character of Kim Jong-Un (I listened to the song only after I watched the movie). You should definitely watch this slack comedy and enjoy the jocular portrayal of freedom.
So, what are you waiting for? Go and binge watch ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘The Interview’ and enjoy your weekend freedom while it lasts.
Warning: Don’t watch these movies with your folks. We aren’t there yet!
Happy Independence Day in advance !
Punit Nitin Kawathekar
Faculty, ELTIS