Mary and Martha (2013)

If people say and tell you this is inspiring, they are not wrong. Based on real events, this is really gripping and without knowing where this was heading (hadn't read anything about it, before I watched it), I really was surprised after about 30 minutes into the film. After that it was kind of obvious where it would go, but the acting and the telling of the story is really good.Not to mention the central performances. Even if towards the end you get a bit of a "cliche" speech, you'd have to have a heart of stone, not to be touched by it at all. You could also argue about the husband and what he decides to do and how things get "solved", but after all that happened, it seems to be a suiting ending to it all

It is always sad to watch parents loose their children. Every child is so precious that when a parent looses its own child that parent is finished. It gives that parent a mission in life, which in the most cases is fruitless one, in this film may be it is not so fruitless.I do not believe in the African countries. Most of those states are failed states. They do not have any chance of survival, and people in many of those countries are doomed. It is a real life risk for the white people to go there, my father almost lost his head going to Zaire on business. When Mobutu Sese Seko fled the country they devastated his compound to the ground. The guards and workers, who lived decent lives during those years are now barley surviving. I would never go to Africa unless you want to have a personal tragedy like this one.

First...NO WESTERNER would EVER leave their respective countries to travel to anywhere in Africa without Malaria medication in the 21st century--especially a child. The scenario that the writer and director presented was false. Plus, one does not get the symptoms of Malaria two days after they have been bit by a mosquito. Second...why do we need to showcase two white people who lives have been turned upside down because of malaria to make people realize that the African people are neglected? Why couldn't the story be a black teacher who may be a "professional" makes very little money that he even can't pay for medical care for his wife who has malaria? This would be more meaningful and more true. When I was in Africa, I met a teacher who could not come to work because his wife was sick with Malaria. Hence...he could not come in to teach because he needed to take care of his sick wife and could not earn his salary because he had to be home. Regardless of how ridiculous I thought the premise of the story is, African people need help. They are so impoverished and have very little to be able to take care of their families. We send aid over to many African countries and the money is sucked up by corrupt politicians and top business leaders, leaving next to nothing for the people. If the African people receive 1 percent of the money we give the government for programs, I would say they would be lucky.

Mr Richard Curtis is a very nice man.I say that in the full knowledge that I have never met him although I saw him one evening last year in a restaurant in Walberswick with his daughter looking like someone who desperately does not want to be recognised. He has written "Mary and Martha" for "Red Nose Day",which he instigated many years ago and which has made millions for Good Causes all round the world. It concerns malaria which apparently kills half a million children every year,an appalling statistic. Equally appalling is the alleged indifference of the so - called Developed World until two nice middle class white children are killed,and slowly,ever - so - slowly,it sits up and takes notice of this unacceptable state of affairs.That is the gist of Mr Curtis's film. It features Miss B.Blethyn - one of the least "actressy" of English actresses and Miss H.Swank,the sort of woman you would like beside you in a foxhole facing The Hun(no offence). Both have lost their sons to malaria - one of the more easily (and cheaply) preventable of the many diseases that curse Africa. These two formidable women team up and present evidence to a Senate Appropriations Committee in order to draw more attention to the plight of hundreds of thousands of African children. That - in essence - is "Mary and Martha".An achingly sincere portrait of loss and the need to make some sense out of the apparently senseless. That it fails to tell the whole story makes it even more tragic. Aid from the West is often looked upon(not by those who need it,mind you)as a continuation of Colonialism by other means and opposed on Political Grounds. Several people I know who have been to Africa working for N.G.O.s have found themselves marginalised and actually obstructed by officials with their own agenda. I fear it is not quite the "Rainbow Nation" Mr Mandela visualised and Mr Curtis has presented. Having said that,"Mary and Martha" is a considerable achievement that he should be proud of and if I ever bump into him in Walberswick again I hope he won't mind if I tell him so.