Saturday night, after a quick trip to catch the end of a pleasant reception down at the Santa Monica Art Studios (they’re featuring a new set of artists), I went to the Arclight (hurrah! – it’s been a while) and saw a quite wonderful film: Mira Nair’s “The Namesake”.
I laughed and cried in turn at the joy and the sadness of it. It’s a very simple film about so many key things, explored marvelously: Family, home, leaving home, leaving your country, loss of family, love, loneliness, joy, togetherness, parents, children, youth, age, aging…
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mira Nair has done it again, and the performances are wonderful, too. The film grabs you and tugs you in within the first few seconds of the start, engages you with great characters, and holds you close right through the end.
-cvj
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Charlie Rose interviewed Mira Nair and Jhumpa Lahiri a couple of weeks ago. It was a incredibly fascinating piece, featuring clips from the film that followed, or preceeded, Jhumpa reading from her book and Nair discussing why she chose to use this or not use that material. Both of them discoursed on their own upbringing, and how Jhumpa brought Mira to her family gathering in Rhode Island where she could “see” and experience the world of the book. Just listening to the two of them is sufficient to promote the film, trailer and review unseen.
Clifford, yes, I posted that I did see it here: http://asymptotia.com/2007/01/12/just-go/#comment-24607
I restrained myself from too much comment since I didn’t want to “spoil” anything. I just thought maybe more people had seen it by now. I should mention that I did not read The Namesake reviews – I only look at the blurbs on Rotten Tomatoes of my favorites reviewers, then read the reviews afterwards. (I really don’t want to waste my money or time on D movies as they usually are bad.) Directors’ previous movies are often a good indicator of a film’s quality, but of course, not always. :-/
Hi TBB:- Well, as you’ll recall from the post, I was also enthusing about the beneficial effects of going to see a good movie when you’ve no idea about what it is about. When you know absolutely nothing about it, and let it unfold in front of you. So I did not want to talk any more about it than I did, since that would risk depriving people of the experience that I had.
So did you see it? Like it?
-cvj
I’m still wondering what your feelings were about Children of Men; you were so emphatic about people seeing it (I did listen to Professor Johnson), but you never discussed why. One of my best friends, who happens to also be well-aquainted with London (as he is a complete anglophile and resided there), thought it was “excellent” as well.
I did enjoy Monsoon Wedding, and my favorite reviewers liked this one, too, so maybe I’ll check it out. Thanks.