English4U: The Pursuit of Happyness

Thursday, 6 January 2011

The Pursuit of Happyness

Dear Pupils and colleagues,

at the moment me and my pupils of the 12th grade - Curso Profissional de Análise Laboratoriais- are watching the film the Pursuit of Happyness. NO, sir, I'm not wrong. I didn't make a mistake. The title presents the word happyness with "y" because the characters lived in a neighbourhood where people can't spell this word right. There are two explanations for that: most of these inhabitants are immigrants and have troubles with the language and secondly, and most important, they don't know what happiness means, because their life is hard and they have to struggle everyday in order to survive.

The film isn´t gloomy though. It is a very touching, moving and optimistic movie that encourages every human being to pursuit an inaliable right, which is written in the United States Declaration of Independence.

To attain this right, having a good job is essential in the character's life: Chris Gardner.

Based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. Gardner has invested heavily in a device known as a "Bone Density scanner". He feels like he has made these devices. However, they do not sell as they are marginally better than the current technology at a much higher price. As Gardner tries to figure out how to sell them, his wife leaves him, he loses his house, his bank account, and credit cards. Forced to live out in the streets with his son, Gardner is now desperate to find a steady job; he takes on a job as a stockbroker, but before he can receive pay, he needs to go through 6 months of training, and to sell his devices.

Find more at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/

Data:

The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical drama film, directed by Gabriele Muccino and based on the true story of Chris Gardner. The film stars Will Smith as Gardner, an on-and-off-homeless salesman-turned stockbroker. Starring Will Smith, nominee for several awards, Jaden Smith (Will Smith's real son - winner of MTV Movie Award for Best Male Breakthrough Performance, PFCS Award for Best Performance by Youth in a Leading or Supporting Role - Male - Thandie Newton, Brian Howe and Dan Castellaneta, this movie won the following awards:

Capri Award for Movie of The Year (winner)
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture

TRIVIA

The man seen walking across the street at the end of the movie while Chris and his son are walking away is the real-life Christopher Gardner. You can see Will Smith make a double take back at him.