He Named Me Malala – Film Review by Frank L

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

Stars: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai, Toor Pekai Yousafzai

In the colonial struggles of Afghanistan in the nineteenth century there was a woman called Malala who rallied the Afghani tribesmen to fight the invading forces of the British Empire. She died in the battle. Guggenheim opens his documentary by telling this part of history by means of an animated sequence. He then switches to Malala Yousafzai, a teenage girl, on an operating table after she was shot in the head from close range. She lived with her family in the Swat Valley in Pakistan which had recently been taken over by the Taliban. Her crime was her determination as a girl to be educated. As far as the Taliban was concerned it is against their beliefs for girls to be educated and Malala thinking and acting otherwise needed to be annihilated.

Somehow she survived the murderous attack and was transferred to Birmingham, England where remarkable surgery has enabled her to live a full life. Her determination that all girls be educated remains undiminished. She is a global campaigner for this right. In 2014 she won the Nobel Peace prize for her work.

While undoubtedly she is the centre piece of the story the use in the title of the word “He” gives a pointer to a second hero – her father. A devout Muslim man who abhors everything the Taliban represent and completely endorses his daughter’s brave campaign. They make an impressive pair.

Guggenheim shows from documentary footage the arrival of the Taliban in the Swat valley. As the Taliban started to take over the valley he shows their followers collecting cds, videos and books, piling them up and setting them alight … all horribly reminiscent of the footage of the burning of books in Berlin in 1933 by the Nazis. Inevitably it brings to mind the sentiment of the nineteenth century German poet Heinrich Heine that where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people.

Malala at nineteen years old is a magnificent young woman who is a beacon of light. She is an inspiration to us all. Guggenheim has created an enthralling documentary about her. She shows that goodness can prosper.