Review of the film 'Yasmin' by Kenny Glenaan
The film 'Yasmin' by Kenny Glenaan is about the young Muslim woman Yasmin who has to decide between two different lifestyles - the modern way and the life concentrated on Muslim traditions. In her family she impersonates the sensible daughter and she is very obedient and dependable . She even agrees to marry her cousin Faysal just for helping him to get a British passport although she doesn't really like or even accept him. Yasmin feels attracted to the young Brit John but hides her marriage. Suddenly, after the terror attacks of 9/11, she is confronted with prejudices and regarded as an enemy by many in society. Probably Kenny Glenaan's intention is to show the conditions between the ethnic groups in British society, the power of prejudices and how young Muslim people try to get along with their cultural values and with integration. The message of the film is that today society is not as tolerant as it always pretends to be and that many things are generalised. It shows that there is a huge lack of acceptance towards members of some ethnic groups when it comes to political problems. Further on it becomes clear that it is sometimes necessary to arrange with certain terms so that tolerance can grow from every side. In my opinion the film shows perfectly well the ethnic conditions in a typical English small town and the problems Muslims are still confronted with. Its strengths are mainly the genuine rendition of the circumstances in Britain and the serious and moving atmosphere that makes the story kind of 'close to reality'. I absolutely recommend this film because you get a completely new impression of racial problems, integration and the wish of young people to be accepted despite of their different ethnicity. The film is a good example to show that there is still too much intolerance which is probably affected by uncertainty, suspicion and, of course, small-mindedness.
The film 'Yasmin' by Kenny Glenaan is about the young Muslim woman Yasmin who has to decide between two different lifestyles - the modern way and the life concentrated on Muslim traditions. In her family she impersonates the sensible daughter and she is very obedient and dependable . She even agrees to marry her cousin Faysal just for helping him to get a British passport although she doesn't really like or even accept him. Yasmin feels attracted to the young Brit John but hides her marriage. Suddenly, after the terror attacks of 9/11, she is confronted with prejudices and regarded as an enemy by many in society. Probably Kenny Glenaan's intention is to show the conditions between the ethnic groups in British society, the power of prejudices and how young Muslim people try to get along with their cultural values and with integration. The message of the film is that today society is not as tolerant as it always pretends to be and that many things are generalised. It shows that there is a huge lack of acceptance towards members of some ethnic groups when it comes to political problems. Further on it becomes clear that it is sometimes necessary to arrange with certain terms so that tolerance can grow from every side. In my opinion the film shows perfectly well the ethnic conditions in a typical English small town and the problems Muslims are still confronted with. Its strengths are mainly the genuine rendition of the circumstances in Britain and the serious and moving atmosphere that makes the story kind of 'close to reality'. I absolutely recommend this film because you get a completely new impression of racial problems, integration and the wish of young people to be accepted despite of their different ethnicity. The film is a good example to show that there is still too much intolerance which is probably affected by uncertainty, suspicion and, of course, small-mindedness.