Films: Brick Lane

Brick Lane (2007)
Dir. Sarah Gavron
Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Christopher Simpson,Satish Kaushik, Naeema Begum,

It's always risky business treading the path of a well-known and well-loved book in the movies. However, Monica Ali's Brick Lane is brought to beautiful, sorrowful and hopeful visual excellence in the film adaptation. It is a film of newcomers, which only adds to its raw and honest quality. Gavron's directorial eye produces the film's breathtaking overall image, full of colour and light, and a kind of rough earthiness.

Chatterjee gives an amazing performance as the young mother of two daughters sent to England to marry an older man when she was just 17. She rarely needs to speak for the amount of expression she has in her eyes. The film is intercut with scenes shot in the lush, green Bangladeshi village of her youth, which is a vivid contrast to the red brick and market stalls of Brick Lane. Mrs Ahmed is stifled by her husband, who Kaushik plays in such a way that means you can't dislike him for long, and the wonderful stories of home that her sister writes in letters. The nephew of a clothing producer, Karim, comes into Mrs Ahmed's life and she is suddenly allowed to feel and be loved. However, on a backdrop of the events of 9/11, the pressure on muslims in Brick Lane becomes unbearable. Simpson (Karim) is brilliant; both innocent and forceful in his passion for Islam.

The film is beautiful and the characters are all portrayed wonderfully. Ali's novel comes out unscathed; in fact, it is literally brought to life. The story is so well constructed that the viewer is constantly in tandem as to how they want it to conclude. And when it comes to the conclusion, it is also perfect.

My rating: ***** 5 stars
Recommendation: Buy the DVD. It will become a firm favourite. Honestly, you won't regret it.