Love + Hate

About time i watched one of those films that real does move you. Having spent some years in that "world" i can definitely see the problems and issues that unfortunately can still arise in todays society. Although sometimes quite upsetting that this sort of attitude behavior still occurs in the modern world of 2006, this turns into a a real 'feel good' film, with plenty of morals + some fantastic music which suits the scenes perfectly. It grabbed me in the first few minutes. I did wonder if people would enjoy this film who hadn't lived in Northern England at first, but the direction, story line and acting make it all the more pleasurable.

The dialog delivery was awkward and unnatural. I get the feeling that they were trying to make it sound more "natural" with the actors stepping on each other's lines, but it just sounds like they don't know their parts so well. It could just be bad acting. Maybe the actors were attempting to ad-lib. I don't know.

The writer has low expectations for the audience's understanding and feels he has to spell everything out in the dialog. The racist kids walks out of the back room, it's pretty obvious that it's because he doesn't like the new Muslim girl. The Muslim girl says "Why did he just leave like that without saying anything?". Duh.

And I can't understand most of what the two chav prostitutes are saying. That's what you are, by the way, when you get all dressed up to sit by the side of the road waiting to get picked up for sex with random guys in their cars. A hooker.

It's not a terrible film, but it's not exactly an original story either.

The movie wears it's message on it's sleeve. It's about racism in England. No, not Black v. White, but Brown v. White. A Pakistani British girl gets a job in a wallpaper store. There she is welcomed by all but the boy to whom she is assigned to as a trainee. He is surly, largely mute, and it's clear he hates "Pakis." In the mean time we are introduced to an older Pakistani male who works at a factory and has to contend with the racial digs of his fellows. One man, a manager, hesitantly engages him in talk, but he shows his prejudices with his ignorance of the other man's culture. The message is clear: If you are a Brit, then there is only one cultural standard and that is working class neanderthalism.

Soon enough we see the people are linked. The girl is the sister of the Pakistani man, and his strictures to her are clear: don't date "Goras(?)", i.e. local Brits. It is also clear that these rules apply to her but not to him.

The girl befriends another girl at work, who is clearly out for wanton pleasure. This friend turns out to be the daughter of the man who is the manager of the Pakistani male. When the girls are seen walking home by the Pakistani male he chides her for "hanging out" with the wrong sort.

So far so good. Is the movie going to show us the British working class ethnocentrism, and amorality, clashing with a more rigid, religious imported culture? Yes, but it's also going to show us the hypocrisy and male chauvinism of the Pakistani male.

To complete the circle and connect all the characters the Pakistani male picks up the friend of his sister. This is done in a manner highly parallel to picking up a whore; she sits on a bench with a friend, all tarted up, and they get into the car of whomever that drives by. The Pakistani male is right: she is the wrong sort, but she's the sort that turns him on, and to his chagrin he eventually falls for her.

In the mean time we see more into the reasons for the Pakistani girls being ignored by the boy at work. His brother and mother are proud racists. The brother makes it clear that "shagging" a "Paki" would be grounds for expulsion from the "white" race, and his mother hates them because she blames them for having more entrepreneurial skill than she does.

It is therefore inevitable that he will make a pass at the Pakistani girl, if only to taste forbidden fruit.

Having set us up, it is now only a question of how the movie will bring all these inevitable collisions together, and whether anyone will walk away from the smoke! Collisions do occur, and people get beaten up, but the young couple, now deeply in love, cast off away from their families, in search of a more tolerant lifestyle. Nothing is said of the inevitable cultural and religious clashes ahead of them when the love glow ebbs, but at least they don't end up committing suicide! The message is clear: love wins out from intolerance and familial dark holes! It's a nice message if an overly optimistic and unrealistic one.

A terrific debut from Dominic Savage, this gritty drama set in North England deals with racism and love, lust and hate. The beautiful Samina Awan plays 17-year-old Pakistan girl Naseema who starts working at a lonely wallpaper shop and quickly falls for Adam (Tom Hudso), a racist who finds himself conflicted, especially in contrast to his racist, binge drinking friends and older brother.

There are other characters involved and sometimes the supporting characters (Naseema's friend going out with her brother, whose own work college is the girl's father) hog a bit of the screen, but the central love story is compelling enough and very satisfying.

It is flawed, and the ending can't decide if it's feel-good or feel-bad, but the story resonates powerfully, even if the accents don't.

Set in a Northern town where white racism is prevalent and Muslim youth are torn between their contemporary world and their parent's traditional faith. Adam and Naseem are typical of their sections of the community but are dissatisfied with their lifestyles. They start a relationship which predictably challenges what is regarded as acceptable by their peers and parents.

Although there is nothing new in this film it does a good job of exposing complex issues within contemporary Britain. The acting is brilliant and brings alive the familiar themes of intolerance, revenge, teenage sexuality and love in multicultural Britain. The story perhaps relies a little too much on coincidences.