Love + Hate

I liked this movie enough to register an IMDb account. Ihope people see this one. Every bit as good as Crash for laying out the human problems with racial barriers and the hypocrisy that is inherent. Super-real performances and an understated script make this a real gem for lovers of human drama.

Why is it OK to for brother to date white women but a mortal sin for is sister to date a white boy. Would you be OK with your white sister dating a man of color? Your daughter?

This is the question brought forth here. A real hard look at ourselves and our racial pride.

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.

First and foremost, this is only my 2nd post ever and I've been using this website for well over 2 years now. My point is, something has to stir me up, to write a comment.

Well this film has, and more to the point some of the negative posts by others. Firstly, its not a classic. Secondly and more importantly, its nowhere near belonging on the scrap heap either. As the other posts have explained the outline of the plot, I refrain from repeating. What I will say though, is how surprised I was at how good I felt this film was upon its conclusion. I've watched so many films over the years, and have seen nearly all of the films in the top 250 on this website. Like I've said, its not a classic, but the film has a really good effort at offering a powerful and compelling story about issues in modern Britain. Comments made about the standard of the acting, are at the very least harsh, and seem to miss the point. The actors are indeed supposed to be young adults from Blackburn starting life out in the working world. It would be inappropriate to be acted with the grandeur of a Hollywood line-up. They give it a really good go and certain scenes are to a degree shocking and indeed quite moving.

No, its not a tear-jerker. It just has a powerful, if not slightly plagiarised plot, leaving you feeling better for indulging in its 86 minutes of worthwhile subject. Its a good British film you should watch with an open mind and an hour and a half of uninterrupted time.

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.

To judge by the comments here, it's one of those films you indeed either love or hate. I loved it; to me, coming from the north of England, the characters and dialogue were utterly convincing and compelling. (Maybe because the decent, fair-minded chap who ran the wallpaper shop reminded me of my Dad... unfortunately some of the other characters, with their odious and ignorant views, I recognised too.)

To me, the only problem was the over-reliance on coincidences (oh, so Greek drama). But I liked the fact that many of the expected clichés were avoided.

So, Hollywood it ain't. If you like your films smartly scripted and smoothly acted, you may well hate the Loach-style rough edges.

But for me, this raw and bluntly honest film was one of the most powerful pieces of cinema of the year. And, actually, excellently acted. Throughout I kept saying, that's what it's like. That's just what they do. That's exactly what they say. And, by gosh, I wish it wasn't.