Saturday 20th December

Brick Lane

Director: Sarah Gavron
Year: 2007
Stars: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson

I've seen this one before. I knew that really, but ended up watching it when it came on TV anyway. Part of me thought "Oh, I've read the book and want to watch the film", forgetting that that was exactly what I thought when it got released at the cinema, and therefore exactly what I did.

The fact that I sat down to watch the first ten minutes and got involved enough to want to watch it all the way through again says a lot about how good I think Brick Lane is. If anything, it improved on a second viewing. This may have more to do with me not remembering the novel as well this time around, as it's a while ago since I read it. But the themes are still very relevant.

The story focuses on Nazneen, a Bangladeshi girl who arrives in London at the age of 17 to get married. The film follows her life, focussing on the period when she has two teenage daughters. Although the novel covers a longer period of time in more depth, the film manages to get the important points of the novel across without taking too much time setting the scene. The whole film makes you think, but the ending especially is very well done. My favourite character is Chanu, Nazneen's husband, who could so easily have been reduced to a stereotype, but instead is one of the most complex characters in the film - you're torn between liking him and hating him.

Rating: 4 out of 5