Reviews

As an eighteen year old in 1983, I ended up in Lisbon on a fairly aimless wander around the Iberian peninsula on the railway network, and simply fell in love with it. I stayed for a while to explore the city and surroundings and ended up with a rich mental image of the sights and sounds of this beautiful city.

When I came across a reference to this movie, I simply had to buy the DVD. Interestingly, I see that the intention of the movie was to capture the spirit of the city, and thankfully it does not do so from a touristic point of view.

It captures Lisbon at an interesting time for the country, some 20 years after the revolution and 8 years after Portugal joined the European Union. And also at a time where it was modernising fast. A few years prior to the shooting of this movie, there were very old buses and the old trams (Eléctricos) ran just about everywhere and up impossibly narrow and steep roads where you could reach out and touch the houses. Now, there are just a couple of heritage routes, and these are the eléctricos featured in the movie out of necessity. Today, the transport system is completely modernised and I can see the point of the movie in trying to capture the spirit of a city before it changes out of recognition.

The use of the group Madredeus to provide the music is, I think, quite inspired. To make a movie about Lisbon could have turned into a 'yawn' if it had used a cliché of Fado. Thankfully it didn't and used something more contemporary. And what a group! The music is haunting, so much so that I have now gone off and sought out their CDs! Teresa Salgueiro reminds me of those Portuguese girls I met as a youth, she is just perfect for the part.

As has been mentioned by another reviewer, the movie is a bit self-indulgent in an 'arty' type of way, but it IS entertaining.

Finally, I prefer the movie with the subtitles turned off. The movie has a pan-European flavour with various languages popping up and intertwining. I suppose I benefit that I can grasp the gist of Portuguese when it is being spoken, and the German in the movie is basic enough that most of us will have absorbed some of it from movies and TV. Teresa Salgueiro's voice is very clear to understand when singing to those who are trying to understand the language, and is a real pleasure to listen to. To someone who may never have visited Portugal, the use of children who are fluent in English might seem odd, but in general, the Portuguese (well, in Lisbon, especially so) have always been good English speakers and I find it entirely natural to find Portuguese schoolchildren who speak English as well as Portuguese.

Okay, lets state the obvious, this is not an art movie.

However, I enjoyed it, and I think it is well developed. The movie is known internationally but was written for a British audience.

So, for the benefit of non-UK audiences, and perhaps younger UK audiences, it should be put into context.

Parminder's father makes reference to coming from Nairobi, Kenya and is thus presumed to be a middle class Indian who has come to the UK and has got stuck in a lowly paid job at Heathrow airport. He is not directly from India. (note that the director, Gurinder Chadha, is also an Indian Sikh from Kenya).

A bit of history here. Following the contraction of the British Empire after WW2, Kenya (a part of British East Africa) gained independence from Britain, and subsequently kicked out the Indian middle class in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Some found political sanctuary in the UK where they still experienced racism and bigotry. However, there was and is, a strong Indian community in the outer Western suburbs of London which is where this film is set, which is also close to Heathrow airport (hence all the low-flying planes).

So, the mother and father are political migrants who came from a country where their culture was important to them, and where they are presumed to have been relatively wealthy but are not so wealthy now.

The culture clash is a fairly simple plot, and appears in many movies so I wouldn't patronise anyone explaining this.

Later in the movie, we see a sumptuous wedding scene which featured a fair amount of Bhangra music (look it up on Wikipedia) which is, in this movie, a fusion of Punjabi traditional music with more contemporary Western musical instruments ,which is why it is to toe-tappingly good! This is another example of the fusion of the cultures in this movie.

I really enjoy this movie when I see it. The characters are well developed, and although often bigoted, none of them are idiots. They may hold strong views, but they can't be hated for this. I think the best character was Jules' mother who got some of the best lines in the movie. And as been pointed out by others, it is refreshing to see that none of the males in the movie were presented as imbecilic morons just to make a cheap point. Okay, some of Jess's male football playing friends in the park were a bit dim, but none more so that Pinky's female friends.

Keira Knightly's performance was a bit wooden, but at least she keeps male viewer's attention! All in all, I love this movie. The music was perfect, and the actors well chosen and they played their characters well. The plot is a bit cheesy, but it is carried off well, for what it is.

"Laters" :-)

I first saw this film in the cinema when I was 7 years old so all of the actors appeared to be 'big' boys and girls at the time. However, like just about everyone else, it left a lasting impression on me.

I've never been a fan of Mark Lester who, to me, just doesn't have the depth that the other actors have, but Jack Wild and Tracy Hyde are just perfect in this film.

I was delighted to obtain a copy of the Japanese DVD from eBay a short while ago, and just like everyone else, I am astonished as to how much of the original film I remember.

When I first saw it, I was 7 years old. I am now 40 years old and living in London, but the best bit is that during the intervening years I have lived and worked among the various locations without realising exactly where there were. I even realised that I had even spent an evening in 'The Pineapple' pub (by the bus stop) several years ago. And I even pass a lot of locations on the train daily.

The film does pass the test of time; or is it just me? There is a charming innocence about the whole film. The adults are quite revolting, especially the dinner party scene, and one wonders if our children see us like this! For those of us who grew up at around that time, it is wonderful to see the location shots, and the lack of traffic in 1970! My favourite scenes? The goldfish in the horse trough with the excellent soundtrack (and how many times must I have walked past it without realising that that was where they shot it!) The wedding, and the two of them heading off on the handcart.

My intention was to buy the DVD to maybe watch it a couple of times and then perhaps sell it on, but to be honest, I simply can't do it! It has a very rare quality, in that it is timeless and charming, but at the same time nostalgic and with great location shots.

If you can get a copy of this film, do.