Brick Lane (2007)

Directed by: Sarah Gavron | 102 minutes | drama | Actors: Tannishta Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum, Lana Rahman, Lalita Ahmed, Harvey Virdi, Zafreen, Harsh Nayyar, Abdul Nlephaz Ali, Bijal Chandaria, Mohammed Ahsan, Josh Ali, Debjani Deb, Kusumika Nagar, Dola Chakraborty

‘Brick Lane’, the film adaptation of Monica Ali’s bestseller, immediately starts with heartbreaking images. The beautifully stylized photography and the enchanting music immediately catch the eye. British social drama à la Ken Loach, a big theme wrapped in a ‘small film’. Seventeen-year-old Nazneen (a beautiful, subdued rendition of Tannishta Chatterjee) is married off to an older man. She moves from a village in Bangladesh to the gray veil of East London. Here, living in an ugly apartment block (Brick Lane), it is very difficult for her to acquire her own ‘I’. When she feels trapped in a marriage with a man who is overflowing with dilapidated ideas, someone who seems completely out of touch with the contemporary modern society that surrounds him, she often remembers her carefree youth in Bangladesh (captured in magical images).

We see Nazneen sixteen years and two daughters, Shahana and Bibi, later. Still persevering in her submissive other half role, something that has been instilled in her from an early age (“We all survive in different ways and endure the ordeal of life”), she tries to shake off the demons of her discontent. . When her husband Chanu misses a promotion, he immediately resigns – disappointed as he is with the British labor system.

Nazneen, who wants to return to her motherland one day and keeps her dreams alive by corresponding intensively with her younger sister, takes a job as a home seamstress to make a piggy bank. She falls for the man who brings her the new supply of sewing every week, the young Karim (Christopher Simpson), and through him Nazneen sees her life in a completely different perspective. Through Karim she becomes acquainted with an Islamic neighborhood group that calls itself the Bengal Tigers. It is Muslims who are mobilizing, forming a front to resist in an environment where racial tensions are on the rise. Meanwhile, Shahana, the eldest daughter, increasingly resists her unworldly father and encourages her mother to stand up for herself (“In twenty years of marriage you have never told him what you really want!”).

With the integration problem and the influence of 9/11 in the background, Nazneen forces herself to take her life into her own hands. Does she really want to go back to ‘dreamland’ Bangladesh? Her failed husband, who feels displaced, and her sister’s many letters make it clear that she is actually more at home in England. In her own words: “Torn between two worlds, running in search of a place that had already been found.” ‘Brick Lane’ is a convincing film about the pressing, contemporary theme of integration. A film that manages to say a lot with few words and treats us to beautiful images, especially the flashbacks to the native Bangladesh are eye-watering, and enchanting music. A film – awarded with various prizes – that hits you right in the heart, atmospheric, sensual and compelling. Keep an eye on Mrs. Gavron, she’s going to rival Mr Loach’s crown…