Everybody knows MY LEFT FOOT. After all, it's considered a classic of the 1980s and it made Daniel Day Lewis win the first of his three Academy Awards. But very few know that a year before that a movie about another person with a similar life was being made. And despite having never seen MY LEFT FOOT but being an obscure movie lover myself, I gave GABY A TRUE STORY a try and I loved it to the point that I wanted to give it a score higher than 10... it's that great!
The movie follows the life of Gaby Brimmer (Rachel Chagall) that is the daughter of Jewish refugees living in Mexico that has cerebral palsy. In other words, her entire body is paralized except her mind and her left foot, and with the help of her tutor succedds in attending school, college and become a successful writer even tho dealing with some personal tragedies.
The acting by Chagall was great (and it's a shame that she hasn't made that many movies after this one), and also by Robert Loggia, Liv Ullman and Tony Goldwyn. The plot, while at times depressing, was still inspiring because it gives the message that even tho you have some serious impairments, you can make it in life. In fact, Brimmer's dad makes the example that Beethoven was deaf yet he made all that great classical music.
Not to be missed even if you already saw MY LEFT FOOT (unlike me) because it has some touching moments and an inspiring feel to it that it will make you root for Gaby despite her handicap. And since it's on Youtube, give it a try if you stumble upon it during a search.
