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.

I saw this film at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival and this film was well attended and received by the audiences there. Dominic Savage comes out with a pretty strong film for his directorial big screen debut in a film he also wrote. It's a reworking of an old theme of two people from different cultures falling in love and the inevitable problems they face when cultures clash but this is rendered well and reflects the very real misconceptions and prejudices of a modern city in the UK. The film has a real raw gritty look and has some of the feel of a modern West Side Story in it's Romeo & Juliet tension and a modern American Graffiti in it's capturing of kids with cars in a contemporary cruise-scene environment. The ending was a little weak but I would rate it a 6.5 of a scale of 10 and recommend it.

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.

For me love+Hate is one of the best films i've seen in the last five years. It was my best film of 2006.The main reason i love this film is the realism of it. It deals with issues. Mainly the film is about racism, and what it does to people who use it to control their life. The story is about a young girl who goes to work in a DIY shop and meets a young boy who takes an instant dislike to her. Eventually he realises that he loves her and is torn between what his friends and family might think,and his true feelings. There are other stories but i wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone. The film is brilliant in all the key areas. The acting is superb by everyone. The script is just as brilliant. The music is excellent and provides a real essence to the story being told. The direction is very good. Everything is really superb. It will not be a film to everyones taste but it is thought provoking and original in the way only great films are.

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.