Honour

I don't have much to add that distracts from my stars or my tag line. Any movie brave enough have 'honour' as its title is asking to be criticised, but with this Honour, such is unnecessary. The director, the cameramen, and the editors here have created a truly professional piece. Its class is shown in the contrast between the cinematography, full of bright clear colour, which shows a modern, happy and vibrant England (like a shopping interlude on a Nigella Lawson show), and the story itself, brilliantly constructed from several person's perspective, before coming together for the dramatic close. It is in this last aspect that the movie truly satisfies as a thriller. It's well cast, wonderfully acted, and keeps the viewer guessing. I highly recommend it as a thriller, as well as the talent on display as a work of cinematic excellence, and of course the enlightened way the writer has presented a terrible evil in our society. Worthy of several awards.

Honour deal with the subject of honour killings in sections of the Pakistani Muslim community although prevalent amongst Hindus and Sikhs.

Mona (Aiysha Hart) is a modern young woman who lives with her mother (Harvey Virdi) and two brothers Kasim (Faraz Ayub) who is a police officer and much younger Adel (Shubham Saraf). Her mother is strict and devout, I would probably add a hypocrite as well.

Mona is going out with another Pakistani Muslim Tanvir (Nikesh Patel). However this is not good enough for her family because he is Punjabi or something. So in effect he is Muslim, he is from Pakistan but the wrong region or caste so not good enough for the family and enough to bring shame to them. You see what I meant when I called her mother a hypocrite.

When the rest of the family hear about her plans to marry this they go off the rails. Kasim threatens Tanvir and frightens him off. For bringing shame to the family they attempt to kill her but she escapes and the family hire a bounty hunter (Paddy Considine)to find her. Considine is happy to take money from Asians although we note he is a racist.

Writer/director Shan Khan mixes the time line to heighten the suspense of what is a straightforward thriller. It works to an extent but too often the film becomes a hysterical melodrama with the focus on Karim the foul mouthed cop turned bad guy as he has been too brain washed by his repulsive mother.

There is a scene where his mother tells him that as a policeman, a pillar of the community, with his family's standing, he is an eligible catch and could marry a top Pakistani girl. His sister'r behaviour has put all this at risk.

At least the film highlights the sensitive issue of honour killings but it needs to have placed more explanation to the viewer as to why Tanvir was deemed to be unsuitable for Mona or else the viewer could be left confused.

The film is set in London but there is a glaring scene of a main road in the Isle of Man which I recognised as it was near where I used to live.

HONOUR is a difficult movie to watch. Centering on the idea of honor killings, a practice that not only prevails in Muslim communities but in other cultures as well, it focuses on the way in which Mona (Aiysha Hart), 'transgresses' her family's sense of ethics by falling in love with a Punjabi man Tanvir (Nikesh Patel). Spurred on by her elder brother Kasim (Faraz Ayub), who works for London's Metropolitan Police by day, the family engage a bounty- hunter (Paddy Considine) to pursue Mona and discover her whereabouts. This he agrees to do, while at the same time despising the family, especially Mother (Harvey Virdi), who spends most of her time at home working as a seamstress.

The movie opens explosively with the dénouement, and then goes back to tell the story of why Mona was considered to 'transgress'. The ideas might seem shocking to non-Muslims, but Shan Khan's film shows how important it is for young women - especially - to forge the right marriages, even if it means them being transported back to Pakistan to marry a spouse chosen for them by their family, and agreed upon (normally on financial terms) by the groom's family.

Shot in neo-documentary style around the streets of the London suburb of Southall, a major center for the Asian community, HONOUR makes much of the private/public distinction: by day Kasim spends his time working for an organization that explicitly pursues anti- racist policies (in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, which exposed large-scale racism in the Metropolitan Police). By night he appears to embrace just the kind of racism that the police try to eradicate, as he abuses Tanvir - and at one point holds him captive. Yet director Khan does not criticize Kasim for this; on the contrary he suggests that this is a way of life for many of London's Asian communities.

The real villain of the piece is Considine's bounty-hunter, who has no sense of belief other than to obtain as much money as possible. He is the true racist in the sense that he makes no effort to understand anybody's motives; all that matters for him is that the job should be done and he should receive due financial reward. It is people like him who help to perpetuate the racist stereotypes that prevent members of different communities from integrating with one another in inner cities - not just in London, but everywhere.

HONOUR offers no comfort of an easy resolution. On the contrary, it suggests that second or third generation Asians living in western capitals have to acknowledge the presence of cultural difference, and observe the conventions laid down by their families, even it that means sacrificing the so-called 'freedom' of the west for a more confined existence. This might seem 'unfair' in Mona's cause, but only because she has been brought up in a culture that supposedly values free will.

i can say nothing was hold back on this movie about the hate on both sides, film was dark, raw and gritty as it can get in Great Britain. i am guessing this film will upset a lot of people who are Muslim and i have to say i do not fallow any religion myself but saying that lots of Muslim's will come to realise the truth in the story which is happening all around us even today. i am from Turkey originally so bit more open minded about Women's choices but to east of Turkey mostly in Urfa honour killings are reality even to this date, lately a girl getting raped and killed by family member by drowning while she was 4 months pregnant. i am not an ostrich i will not put my head in sand and say this is not happening like most, Honour killing is not a religious but cultural upbringing it happens not just in Muslim cultures but seems more apparent due to how often it is happening. i have to say only way forward is educating people by saying taking life is wrong moral point and religious point and this job task is for making tougher laws by government and religious leaders speaking out to their community to change hearts. i believe the film was well acted but have to say it was rushed with bad cutting directing was OK i would have like to see the story being more longer more character development and more depth as it is i gave 8 should have been 6-7 but it is a brave, bold and raw take on this sensitive matter for that it deserves 8 and should be watched by every one over the age of 18 due to way more realistic Violence used in the film.

This is a tricky movie to review, it's a little all over the place at times and while occasionally it gets interesting it as often is rather boring.

And that has to do partly with the fact that pretty much everyone except for the victim are disgusting human beings and it focuses more on them than it does the only sympathetic character in the movie, and they aren't that fleshed out characters either to make up for it.

Paddy Considine is all over the poster but for the first hour he merely shows up here and there and it often made me wonder what his characters purpose even was, he ended up serving a purpose in the end though but yeah he's definitely not a lead character for the first hour that's for sure and clearly only on the poster to attract viewers.

I'm conflicted about the movie regarding it's subject, on one hand I do think that it's important to bring up cause honour killings do occur all over the world.

It's just the way it was dealt with that didn't sit right with me, cause they simplified it all and it almost felt like it was suggesting that any Muslim can turn into a vicious killer at any moment because of their pride, and other Muslims accept it which is an idea that the right-wing media is already trying to sell to the world causing racism and this movie will surely not help to prevent that from happening.

Not saying that you should hide away from subjects just for fear of such things but yeah it made it all seem so simple to what is a very complicated issue, it needed to be handled in a much more delicate manner, and perhaps it would have helped if there were any decent people in it beyond the victim to show that not everyone is like this.