We are talking today in our section «Cinema and education» about another film by director Gus Van Sant ('Elephant' y 'Discovering Forrester'), which is entitled 'The Indomitable Will Hunting'. A film that has renowned actors leading the cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, a superb Robin Williams, accompanied by Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgård, Casey Affleck and Cole Hauser, among others.
'The indomitable Will Hunting', from 1997, is based on a script by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck themselves, in which we meet Will Hunting, a true genius. And he seems not to realize it: so little importance attaches to the fact of being a gifted person. His prodigious head only uses it to humiliate his rivals when he is flirting with a girl. One fine day, a university professor discovers that the young man who cleans the classrooms is capable of solving the most complicated mathematical theorems. And he takes it under his wing. But there is a problem: the difficult character of the boy, who requires psychiatric attention. And the bad thing is that Will, thanks to his prodigious intelligence, is dedicated to shredding - psychologically speaking - all the doctors who treat him. Until he runs into Sean McGuire, a widowed psychiatrist who will change his perspective on life.
Few films address the subject of giftedness with the skill that Gus Van Sant does. Another issue that the film addresses is the generational confrontation, giving us a magnificent interpretive duel between Williams and Damon, or social concern (Hunting lives in a suburban area of Boston) and not without giving up a love story in between.
Undoubtedly a film with all the ingredients to please the viewer: magnificent performances, agile plot, interesting plot, renowned director, and as a backdrop the "spirit of improvement" that the story sells us and how society can help you grow, believe in yourself, or sink and ignore yourself. It all depends on yourself.
An interesting film to see in class and then generate a debate among secondary school students, to address issues such as the professional future, conformity, self-motivation, the spirit of improvement ...
