BRICK LANE

Directed by: Sarah Gavron Written by: Laura Jones, Abi Morgan, Monica Ali (original novel) Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sarah KaushikMusic by: Jocelyn Pook Cinematography by: Robbie Ryan Editing by: Melanie Oliver Based on the acclaimed novel by Monica Ali, BRICK LANE follows the life of Bangladeshi woman Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) after she is plucked from her small village and married off to an 'educated man' with a career abroad. In actual fact her partner is a physically bloated man with equally inflated ideas, living on a council estate near Brick Lane, in the East End of London. As Nazneen dedicates herself to the raising of her family she retreats into an inner world, a world which is densely populated with imagery and meaning in the original novel and is pleasantly condensed into colourful flashbacks for the big screen. However, when her husband Chanu resigns from his job she ventures out into the real world of London to earn a living by sewing jeans at home. Through this profession she meets local boy Karim, with whom she slowly grows closer and closer, against the backdrop of escalating racial tension following 9/11. At this point you must be thinking that all this sounds like a lot to fit into a film of less than two hours, and you're right, it really was a bit of a squeeze. In particular, the burgeoning romance between Nazneen and Karim seemed a little hurried, and the inner turmoil, indecision, and even excitement of Nazneen was occasionally represented through some clunky symbolism and pastiche - particularly when it came to the 'sexual awakening'. Nonetheless, there remained a vibrancy in the storytelling which derived both from the active use of colour to convey emotion and fantasy, as well as a nicely weighted balance between the mundane moments of a life of dedicated compliance and familial duty and the ambiguities of the cityscape (both personal and physical) of East London which is at once tumultuous and invigorating. The actors also provided stellar performances, and all of the cast captured the essences of their characters. In particular Satish Kaushik did admirably well in transferring his talents, more usually applied to comic roles, to the tragi-comic figure of bumbling husband Chanu. The role was intelligently scripted, avoiding the usual digs at arranged marriages and the minefield presented by the myths, stereotypes and prejudices surrounding home life for the Muslim family, but nonetheless not sidestepping the problems raised by unions of this type. Chanu comes across as something of a fool, but a noble one, and one whose inner decency really shines through in a scene late in the film where he actively argues against more reactionary Muslims proposing united community action in the face of the 9/11 backlash - refusing to become a part of a segregated community which, as he sees it, will only exacerbate problems. In such moments Chanu even seems to come off as the better man than Nazneen's more brash and impulsive lover Karim, which adds some welcome texture to the human relationships playing out on screen. Perhaps the only critique I have of the acting was the frequency with which Nazneen (played by Tannishtha Chatterjee) looked pensively downward, or else gazed up at the sky in a saintly fashion more at home in a Renaissance painting that on the streets of East London. But of course I could be accused of nit-picking here! After all, this is pretty much just a side-effect of condensing a character's inner world to such a degree, and a minor one at that. Brick Lane paints a sensitive and sensual picture of a rich inner life, set against a scene of personal and social upheaval, which has the capacity to really touch its audience. The multi-faceted characters do much to offer viewers an intriguing picture of one aspect of multicultural London, in a package which does all it can not to make blanket assertions or stereotypes, but yet does not shirk the responsibilities that dealing with these issues places on a film. I know there's been talk of controversies surrounding the production and release of this film, as there was on the publication of the novel, but I for one see nothing inflammatory or unsavoury in this engaging piece of storytelling.

rating: 3.5