The Namesake
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Movie Reviews of The Namesake
Movie Review: I'm the alien
Summary: 5 Stars
A young Indian Ph.D. physics student miraculously survives a train wreck but is severely injured. Despite spending a year in a body cast he feels every day after the accident is a gift.
He moves to America to take up a professorship; he returns to India to meet a woman his parents have found for him. She likes him and they marry. She accompanies her husband back to America, where houses stand far apart and are covered by the grey snow of cities.
They have a first child whom they name Gogol after the Russian writer the husband so admires. The parents make American friends and are on good terms with most everyone. They are not, and can never be, quite at home in this alien land but they find contentment and happiness. They buy a home and invite their Indian friends to a traditional ceremony blessing their house.
The boy grows up in the United States and rebels against his Indian heritage. His parents accept this as a result of their own choice to live abroad. A trip back to India brings the relief of a homecoming, but the family must return to their new chosen homeland.
As a story, the Namesake hardly breaks new ground. Men and women marry, children can be difficult, life abounds with surprises both good and bad. On the other hand, the film masterfully generates instant empathy for the Indian family: even as a north-American non-Indian who knows nothing of life in India, I felt America was alien and India was home. We are the aliens, not this family.
Vincent Poirier, Tokyo
Movie Review: What a wonderful movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
I caught a bit of this movie recently on television and it intrigued me enough that I bought a copy. My wife and I watched it and quickly became engrossed in the lives of the characters. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace without ever becoming boring. It contains subtle subtexts of racism and cultural diversity, as well as some nice twists on the common "fish out of water" film cliches.
While there is no action per se, the story itself is captivating and the cinematography is compelling. The visuals of both America and India show both the beauty and the ugliness that is abundant in both nations. The film is joyous without being artificial and tear-jerking without being melodramatic.
The performances are subtle, textured, and as close to perfect as you will ever find. I guess the best compliment I can pay this little film is that my wife and I were still talking about it days after we watched it together, reliving our favorite moments. There is far more to discuss than one might think. There is multi-generational misunderstanding, cross-cultural confusion, a lifelong love story, and ultimately, the way these various issues help transform a confused young man into a mature and confident adult.
There are already dozens of positives reviews here that outline the plot and the performances, and I really have nothing new to add to those comments. I just had to take a moment and rave about what is simply a diamond of a movie that the American public somehow largely overlooked.
Movie Review: The Namesake- REL 110
Summary: 5 Stars
The Namesake was a suprise to me, I really liked this movie. It's a story of a Bengali family and their move to the U. S. A. The story line of packing up, leaving everyone and everything you know is fasinating to me. My daughter had a friend in high school that did the same, until now I never really appreciated what it meant. I could understand Gogol's mother and how she felt. When your children are small you are the center of their universe, as they get older and want independance it's hard to let go. Your afraid they won't come back, you will be forgotten. I cried with her when her children didn't go home for the holidays and when she was alone when her husband passed.
As for Gogol, I was a teenager once, I understand the struggle for independance, to find his idenity here. Several times I felt myself get angry at him because of how he treated his parents but thats part of growing up and letting go. I was proud of him when he was there for his mother after his Dad passed but I do think he married the wrong girl for the wrong reasons.
The only thing I have seen Kal Penn in is House, I liked this much better. Thsi movie touches so many issues that happen in families of all walks of life. While family ties can be fragile it is a bond that will keep you together forever.
An excellent movie!
Movie Review: Enduring human themes in a fresh setting add up to a memorable film
Summary: 5 Stars
Woven into this fine film are many enduring themes in literature, drama, and film -- coming of age; generations; courtship and marriage; falling in and out of love; infidelity; death and grieving; the love of parents for children, children for parents, and spouses for one another; and the hope of a life unencumbered by background. So what's new here?
In The Namesake, these universal themes, stresses, and conflicts play out in a family that has immigrated from Calcutta to New York, allowing the film to also explore immigration, culture shock, in- and out-marriage, and all the choices of identity that immigrants and their children can make. This fresh setting allows us to see and feel the emotions in a new way.
Americans whose forbears immigrated generations ago will be fascinated when they join, for a few hours, the immigrant experience. When they look at the themes in an Indian-American setting in this film, those whose families have come more recently can perhaps see the parallels and contrasts in their own lives.
With strong casting and fine (even lush) photography in New York and India, this is a film well worth watching.
-30-
Movie Review: One of the Better Movies of 2007
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is based off the book by Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) which chronicles the journey of a young indian married couple to America. The movie focuses on the parents, especially the mother who is played by none other than the beautiful Tabu, and their son who is played by Kal Penn. The family's adjustment to life in America takes different shapes and forms seen in broken relationships, friendships, and lovers.
As the movie progressed I found myself empathizing with each character in a way I haven't done since Crash. I miss movies that draw you into the narrative and then at the end bring you to a sense of closure. One of the strongest roles played in the movie was by Tabu (the mom). She starts out as a naive house wife who is struggling to adapt to life in America. As her life moves on she learns to become strong partly because she has no other choice. It is very hard to capture the silent moments in life. This movie did just that. For that reason and so much more I am convinced this film is one of the best of 2007. If you want to watch something that shows you the delicate nature of what it takes to see the beauty in families this is it.