Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition)
by Gurinder Chadha
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anupam Kher, Archie Panjabi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keira Knightley, Parminder NagraDirector: Gurinder Chadha
Brand: Fox
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
Published: 2003-09-01
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-30
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: Asian Assimilation
Summary: 5 Stars
Throughout the movie, Bend It Like Beckham, the theme of Asian assimilation is the most common one. There is an evident conflict that Jess, the heroine, deals with regarding her secular and religious and cultural life. Jess is an excellent soccer player with traditional and religious Indian Sikh parents, and she needs to live a life with a strong religious foundation, while still expressing her talents for soccer.The movie does a very good job in showing Jess' parents' intervention with her life, their criticisms and hopes for her. Her parents regard religion as extremely important while placing a very strong emphasis on her education. Jess' parents are opposed to Jess' soccer playing because it takes away from her religion and "everything they [her parents] know".
During the course of the movie, the director teaches the viewer much about Indian-Sikh-immigrants' life in Britain, or any other country. The movie includes common phrases in Punjabi that are used in the family's everyday life. Several examples of these phrases are "Hai Raba!" (= Oh My G-D!), "chi, chi, chi" (=bad, bad, bad), and many more. In addition, the movie conveys many of the important values that the parents, as Sikhs and Indians, wanted to instill in their daughters. It was important that Jess and Pinky learn to respect their elders and know how to cook traditional meals.
It is evident that in the traditional Indian culture, women were viewed on a different level than men. When Jess finished telling her parents about joining the girls' soccer team, her father told her that she should start behaving like a proper woman. Being a "proper woman" often indicates possessing the knowledge of cooking, not spending unnecessary time outside the house, and many more feminine stereotype-occupations and skills.
The movie shows a teenager's struggle to balance two cultures, which is much more difficult when one of the cultures is combined with a religion. While Jess is involved in soccer, without her parent's knowledge, she learns to cook Punjabi dinner along with preparing for her sister's wedding. Even on the wedding day, Jess goes to play in her final soccer match and returns to have a fantastic time at her wedding.
A phenomenon that appears in this movie in addition to Monsoon Wedding is a to-be bride's tendency to have a relationship with someone before her wedding. This should not be seen as a generalization made about all Indian brides, but merely an indication that perhaps assimilation is seeping in and causing these actions. These affairs may be conducted because an affair is common in many Western TV shows. Perhaps the brides are just trying to be "western" and "modern".
Overall the movie did a good job of showing the conflict Jess had with her parents, and in the end their solution was a very sensible one. Mr. and Mrs. Bamra allowed Jess to attend college in America while still instilling in her important values. In the end Jess got the best of both worlds; Jess gained from the opportunities she has in living in the United States for four years and still maintaining a good foundation in her religion in culture, which will accompany her for life.
I enjoyed the movie very much. The cast did a great acting job and really became their character. It was difficult for me to form an opinion about what Jess should do, since I am a religious person myself. The different teen-related themes really drew me in and kept me interested in the movie. The soccer and challenge of getting to soccer practice, also helped hold my interest, because there was always the possibility that Jess would be caught and be forbidden from playing soccer. The suspense and constant problems and conflict are really what hold the movie together and make it what it is.
Summary of Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition)
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM - DVD MovieBend It Like Beckham is true girl power. This glorious comedy centers on Jess (Parminder Nagra), an Indian girl born in England whose only desire is to become a football--or, as we say on this side of the Atlantic, soccer--star like her idol, David Beckham; but her traditional family refuses to even consider it. With the help of her new friend Juliet (Keira Knightley), Jess secretly joins a girls' team under the guidance of a male coach (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). As the team starts to gain some attention, Jess's secret can't be kept forever. The story of Bend It Like Beckham is so genuine and detailed that it transcends all the sports-movie formulas that it also fulfills with cheeky exuberance. Wonderfully acted, and written and directed with loving care by Gurinder Chadha (Bhaji on the Beach, What's Cooking?), this movie is pure delight from start to finish. --Bret Fetzer
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