Brick Lane

Dir: Sarah Gavron

2007

***

While Sarah Gavron's adaptation of Monica Ali's Man Booker nominated novel left out much of what made it controversial, it still managed to attract a lot of attention but also left out much of what I thought made the story so good in the first place. In the novel, it is explained that the main character Nazneen, travels to Britain from Bangladesh to meet her husband with only two English words to her disposal, 'Thank you' and 'Sorry'. For me, this summed up the fear, entrapment, frustration and what was expected from these women in a single paragraph. British Bangladeshis were not happy with their portrayal in the book and many protested the film while it was filmed. Pam Greer waded into the argument and made a good comment that author Monica Ali had never lived in the Brick Lane community and didn't even speak Bangladeshi but I think she and many others missed the point of the story. I don't think Monica Ali sought to insult or portray the people of the Sylhet region in a negative light, indeed, only one character came from there. Many Bangladeshis feature in the film, each is very different from the other, just like in all cultures. Arranged marriage is not just a subject that concerns Bangladeshis either and that is really what the film is about. Many people have experienced their version of what Nazneen went through, this film is about identity, rather than simply culture. The fact that Nazneen can only say 'Thank you' and 'Sorry' doesn't feature in the film and it is the worse for it, indeed, what I felt when reading it for the first time is never equalled or replicated within the film. The acting from the key players is very good but it isn't always that great from the supporting cast. The direction is generally very good, especially the scenes in Bangladesh but it is often terribly slow and meandering. Overall it's an above-average drama that I feel could have been better and should have been better given the source material.