Title: Bend It Like Beckham
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Screenplay: Gurinder Chadha, Guljit Bindra and Paul Mayeda Berges
Actors: Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Duration: 107 minutes
Review:
Watching the first 10 minutes of the film, one might think that Bend It Like Beckham is just a typical teenage film. But if one watch through till the end, it is actually an inspiring family drama with a spice of friendship and romance. It tells the audience a story about a teenage Indian girl who has a passion for soccer but was held back by her culture, religion, not to mention her family.
The Indian girl, Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) comes from an Indian family who lives in London. While her family is busy with the wedding of her sister, Jess is more interested in giving her best for a female soccer team, Hounslow Harriers Girls. Being introduced to the team by Jules Paxton (Keira Knightley) -a friend who shares the same passion as her- she strives to become a good player, worthy of America’s female soccer team, a dream that she is trying to pursue.
But path is never easy for Jess. Her dream is held back by her conservative, tradition-believer mother who would like nothing more from her daughter than learning how to cook dal and married a decent Indian guy. This dilemma proved to be a difficult one for Jess as she really is more than talented to pursue her dream, and falling in love for the handsome, Irish coach isn’t helping either.
Director, Gurinder Chadha has done a good job in materializing an appropriate Indian family atmosphere in this film. Not only did he succeed in creating a conflict between tradition and ambition, but he also manages to blend in the element of friendship and romance as well. The result is a film that is awesome and worth watching.
Rating: [pic]