Love + Hate

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.