Mini Review - "The Namesake"

Sometimes there are those films that, while watching them, do not resonate until long after you have ejected the DVD. “The Namesake” fits into this category.

While watching this , I was following the story of Gogol, and how he slowly began to understand and appreciate his Indian heritage after being brought up in America. Although his parents tried to distil his heritage into his upbringing, school and friends shape a lot of who you are as a teenager, and you begin to drift.
It is only until the pressures of adulthood set in that you begin to appreciate who your parents are.
This goes for almost everyone in the known world, but here it is the story of Gogol played well by Kal Penn, but this is not the story that captured my heart and emotions.

It was only until after a few days had passed that I thought about the story of Ashoke and Ashmina, and their struggle from an arranged marriage in India, to the move to New York, and the struggles in a foreign place while raising a family and getting to know your spouse. It was then that I finally appreciated this film.

Director Mira Nair does let down the story a little in her choice to focus on Gogol, but she has still crafted a wonderful movie about identity. We do not often get such detailed studies of Indian families living in the US. In the UK it is a little more popular, but still not as common as it should be.
Perhaps this is because the culture is so different to the western world. Although based in tradition, which is something most of the English speaking world hold dear, they are such strange traditions to the average Joe, so understanding and judging performance will always be so much more difficult.

That being said Irrfan Khan is wonderful as the patriarch of the family. He is able to display his weariness as he gets older, and his disappointment in his son with such amazing control, that it seems he has lived this exact life before. He is a kind man, who has tried to the best for him family, but never feels as though he knows them.

As Ashima, Indian Actress Tabu is stunning. She is able to portray a 25 year time span amazingly (and probably with little make up). Her quiet moments display such repressed emotional honesty (especially when she first moves to New York) that you are taken aback during her uncontrollable moments of despair. When she cries she cries for everything she has bottled up. All her fears, guilt and sorrow come pouring out in a powerful wail, like a demon being exorcized.
In her last scene, where she gives her speech, you believe in this woman, and you understand her, but more importantly Tabu make you want nothing but the best for her Ashmina. Such a shame it has gone unnoticed all year.

A strong film about returning to who you are. B +