I happened to watch this for the first time on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. It was just coincidence, but it was very fitting considering the themes in this story.
I thought this was short film was just about perfect. I am not a fan of science fiction in general, but I like how the best stories of the genre make their point by taking a familiar theme and placing it in another context. In this story, I felt like the main point was tolerance. The main character, Margot, was a girl who had grown up on earth and was now living on Venus. Being the only one in her class that has memories of what it was like on Earth, she is seen as a sort of pariah. We can see things from her point of view and feel what it is like to be shunned because she represents the life each of us know and take for granted. For anyone who has never been discriminated against, watching this movie may be the first time they put themselves in the point of view of the outsider. This is why I think so many educators like this movie: it gives students who have never been in the minority to imagine what it is like to be picked on for something as innocent as knowing how it feels to have the sunlight on your face. But the story takes it even a step further when we see the consequences of Margot's mistreatment, and then to a whole other level when we see how she deals with it. I have never read the original Bradbury story, but it's hard to imagine it is as powerful as this filmed version. The end result--and check the other comments on IMDb, because they back this up--is that once you have seen "All Summer In A Day," you will want to share it with others. This one is something special.
I thought this was short film was just about perfect. I am not a fan of science fiction in general, but I like how the best stories of the genre make their point by taking a familiar theme and placing it in another context. In this story, I felt like the main point was tolerance. The main character, Margot, was a girl who had grown up on earth and was now living on Venus. Being the only one in her class that has memories of what it was like on Earth, she is seen as a sort of pariah. We can see things from her point of view and feel what it is like to be shunned because she represents the life each of us know and take for granted. For anyone who has never been discriminated against, watching this movie may be the first time they put themselves in the point of view of the outsider. This is why I think so many educators like this movie: it gives students who have never been in the minority to imagine what it is like to be picked on for something as innocent as knowing how it feels to have the sunlight on your face. But the story takes it even a step further when we see the consequences of Margot's mistreatment, and then to a whole other level when we see how she deals with it. I have never read the original Bradbury story, but it's hard to imagine it is as powerful as this filmed version. The end result--and check the other comments on IMDb, because they back this up--is that once you have seen "All Summer In A Day," you will want to share it with others. This one is something special.