Noces

Seen at the Movies That Matter (what is in a name?) film festival in The Hague in March 2017. Perfectly written script with ample interesting and unexpected dramatic developments, keeping your attention for the whole duration. The synopsis on the festival website described the premise perfectly: "She has a good relationship with her Pakistani parents until they decide to marry her off to an unknown man. An unwanted pregnancy forces her to make a difficult decision". An extra interesting element is the lenience of her parents towards Western customs, allowing her to choose freely between three marriage candidates via Skype sessions. We even witnessed sort of a marriage ceremony over Skype. Very commendable but that is as far as it goes with adapting to our culture. Choosing a local boyfriend for marriage is not negotiable; however, he must be someone from Pakistan to follow-up on ancient traditions.

Upfront, this movie has all appearances of a traditional fairy-tale-like story, predictably starting with lots of tears, via heavy discussions and threatening to flee away from home, getting permission eventually to marry a local boy albeit reluctantly, thereby ending with everyone living happily ever after. Luckily, this is certainly NOT what this movie intends to show. Several unforeseen turns of events make this story very different, and it keeps your attention throughout. We see Zahira continuously torn between her family and her European environment. Her dilemmas are shown perfectly, and also her inclination to go along with her parents until a certain point. But it is still not enough as far as her parents are concerned.

One extra plot line comes from Zahira's sister, who has complied with ancient traditions, and repeatedly says that she is very happy about it, after all. Sister's quote: "Of course, this is unjust. But they are men, and we are women". A second, even more important plot line comes from her brother, who supports her in many ways and often acts as an intermediary or adviser, but he still insists on following her parent's wishes in the end. Apart from these two co-protagonists, a special mention for the parents is in order, as they act believable in their desire to uphold Pakistani's traditions. It may seem strange in our eyes, having lived in Europa already for many years and running their business amidst people of many cultures. Of all people, they should be aware that their tradition is not the only one.

All in all, although the plot line seems to go along the downtrodden path that the parents eventually give in, after lots of tears and threatening to leave home, this story however will head in a very different direction. The parents seem very flexible at first, yet maintain their persistence that ancient traditions are to be followed. Despite many unexpected turns of events, the movie is very compact overall by condensing all this in 1 hour and 40 minutes.

What is the point of making such movies really?

The movie East is east back in its time was funny and more or less credible, the clash of cultures, the patriarchal figure holding on stongly to appeareances. I emphasis "back in the time" and more or less.

But now this feels stuck in time, same narratives pointing out towards the backwardness of pakistanis (easten culture) and whites (western culture) as the saviors/embodiment of liberty.

A narrative that keeps selling over and over...

What's more, non of the characters happen to be Pakistani, nor the director. Why speak for others?

What's the point really?

Religion poisons everything. Added to retrograde traditions, it impedes the free development of people. The film is a libel against slavery imposed by the reactionary and castrating theocracy. Thousands of young women like Zaira are sacrificed every year, forcibly marrying men they don't love. A tragedy of difficult solution.

Great interpretations and a precise script make Noces an important document against slavery imposed by reactionary religions and traditions.

Cinema, as mass communication, plays an important role in the dissemination of libertarian ideas. More films with this perspective are needed to free young people subjugated by these enslaving traditions.

Aix-la-Chapelle in France is ​​one among many multicultural cities that exist today in the Western world. It is, like others, segregated, even in terms of geographical division: Asians live with Asians, including Pakistanis with Pakistanis. Apart from campuses, apart from white people who increasingly date Asian people, no one mingles with anyone. Are the two phenomena (1. the growing solitude of contemporary Western man or woman, 2. the growing multiculturalism of society) related? Who can say? Too many changes have taken place since the 1960s, multiculturalism is only one of them. In fact, I think that all the radical phenomena of the 1960s, such as the struggle against traditional values, political extremism, feminism, the loss of religion, the sexual revolution, as well as the disorderly urbanization itself, and the growing immigration flow have been responsible for social disintegration. It isn't correct to blame multiculturalism for everything, but it does create identifiable problems like those in this fine melodrama. People begin to realize that there is something wrong with multiculturalism; that the promised paradise of peaceful integration isn't really happening. Why's that? The idea of ​a ​ multicultural society arises from (i) liberalism, (ii) the primordial economic function played by immigrants, (iii) university campuses. Western schools are temples of multiculturalism. People from everywhere, regardless of race or religion, mix and coexist almost always in peace. Zahira, 18, is close to her family until her parents ask her to follow the Pakistani tradition and choose a husband. Torn between family customs and her western lifestyle, the young woman turns to help from her brother, sister, friends and confidants. Is their culture so totalitarian in its anti-heuristic traditions? Let us differentiate multiculturalism from immigration. Immigration has always existed, multiculturalism is something relatively new. In the old days, there was the expectation that an immigrant would adapt to the country to which he or she emigrated, adopting her language and customs. This didn't happen in all cases, but it did nearly always. Today, chances are the opposite: an immigrant shall maintain his own culture, and this should be respected by the society that welcomes him, even if it's all about extirpation of women's clitoris, or pre-marital sex, or abortion. Today multiculturalism reigns in the West. It is partly the result of technological and social changes. It's roughly implemented by governments and politicians more interested in votes than in social welfare. Just like pendulums, fashions and societies do change.

Very smart, subtle and finally hearth-breaking movie. Strength of traditions against modernism. Not at all black and white issues as it can be commonly described sometimes. On the contrary, the movie achieves a deep analysis of main character's emotions and evolution and the greatest success of this movie may be the empathy we feel, little by little, for all the family members involved in this drama, despite their antagonism. The end arises a strong feeling of sadness as we become powerless witnesses of a tragedy which seems awfully predetermined.