The Namesake
THE NAMESAKE: PREACHY AND SLOW
The Namesake wants to teach its audience about the struggle between east meets west. That is, Indian and American culture. It is a tale of an Indian couple who come to the United States for opportunity and end up staying for their children. The story crawls at a snail’s pace, making it hard to stay interested. It seems that director Mira Nair should have made a documentary, as she seems more focused on educating than entertaining.
Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Kahn) and Ashima Ganguli (Tabu) have come to New York for Ashoke’s work as a Professor. They have come from Calcutta, India. Ashima feels out of place and homesick. Nevertheless, she and Ashoke start a family. They have a son that they name Gogol after one of Ashoke’s favorite authors. Ashima wants to return to India but Ashoke convinces her to stay in the U.S for the children. They have a daughter who they name Sonia. They raise them with Indian traditions. Gogol (Kal Penn) rebels against these traditions when he graduates from high school. He has an American girlfriend (Jacinda Barrett) that is the complete opposite of his family. It takes a family tragedy for him to return to his roots.
The story is about the differences between Indian tradition and American culture. Mira Nair showcases Indian culture from affection to marriage to death. She is so busy trying to teach this that she forgets this is a movie, not a lesson in sociology. The film drags and even comes across as being judgmental towards Americans in some parts. Tabu is a big actress in India. She does well with capturing the loneliness this mother feels when it comes to her children. Kal Penn conveys his anger and struggle with the life he has always known and the Indian culture he has tried to turn away from. Shots of Calcutta and New York City are shown as stark contrasts. Calcutta is crowded but colorful while New York City is dark, dreary and cold.
About halfway through I felt like I should have been in a classroom as opposed to a film that I would have enjoyed. East is East is a film about a Pakistani Muslim father and Caucasian that raise their children in Britain. It does a good job of showing the differences in the two cultures without getting up on their soap box.
Mira Nair wants her audiences to be aware of the Indian culture. Her films display this. The Namesake is one of her most personal. The movie would have been better if the direction of the film wasn’t so one dimensional and didn’t make you feel that you were being talked at instead of to.
Report Card:
Story-C-
Acting-A
Visuals-B
Originality/Innovation-B
Enjoyability Grade–C-
Overall Grade-C
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