The Namesake
More often than not, when I see a movie that was adapted from a novel I am usually disappointed. That is definitely not the case with the movie I saw last night, The Namesake. I originally posted on this book about 2 years ago and upon rereading my post, I remember that I was a little disappointed with the character development. The strength of the movie and one of the many reasons that it was FANTASTIC was that Mira Nair, the director, beautifully developed all of the characters. She really made you feel as if you were part of the Gangul family. Her portrayal of family was not as a 3rd person observer; this was one of those films where you felt that you were immersed in all the personalities, conflicts and issues of the characters. The cinematography was stunning and the scenes shot in India really captured what I imagine India to be like. The beautiful costumes, music and even the lilting accents brought this story to life. This movie not only got across its varying message of clashing cultures, how a name defines you, the identity struggle of many immigrants but it was also one of the movies that I would call an “escape.” It made me completely forget about my little world for a couple hours and escape into that of an Indian family living in America. Bravo.
March 22, 2007 12:17 pm 
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By ragdoll, March 22, 2007 @ 3:44 pm
Oh, I really, really enjoyed this movie too — and I think that’s Nair’s skill as a moviemaker: her ability to be so personal without necessarily bringing in too much dialogue or bash-you-over-the-head scenes. Bravo indeed!
By DJ Cayenne, March 22, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
I remember movies. These days a night at the movies makes little economic sense. Mrs. Cayenne and I went to see Casino Royale (a 1001 Books book). We had an inexpensive dinner, drinks, movie tickets, and a babysitter. $100. We could have bought the entire Bong catalog on DVD. If I travel for work soon, I may have an outside chance of seeing this. Otherwise it’s wait till DVD.