Available at Amazon.com
Director
Mira Nair
Cast
Irfan Khan ………. Ashoke Ganguli
Kal Penn ………. Gogol Ganguli
Jagannath Guha ………. Ghosh
Ruma Guha Thakurta ………. Mrs. Ganguli
Tabu ………. Ashima A. Ganguli
Sandip Deb ………. Music Teacher
Sukanya ………. Rini
The Movie
There’s one constant amongst those who have came to the U.S from other countries and their children; the divide between those who have been born American and have become Americans is something that’s universal amongst many cultures and ethnic origins. Whether you’re Polish, Italian, Irish, Indian, Hispanic or any other ethnicity, children born from immigrant families and their parents have common themes and issues amongst them. So it’s interesting to see the issue tackled in The Namesake, based off of the book with the same title.
The film follows 25 years in the family Ganguli. Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) have an arranged marriage in India in the mid 70s, eventually coming to New York to live the American Dream. As the first generation in the United States, they retain many of the customs and traditions from India. She is homesick and dislikes the cold of New York, where he’s a professor, but agrees to soldier on because she wants to be as good a wife as she can. Eventually they have two children, Gogol (Kal Penn) and Sonia (Sahira Nair), born and raised in the U.S and “Americanized” so to speak. They have customs and traditions acquired in the U.S, as opposed to having olden customs from another country.
It’s a brilliant movie because of how remarkable the script is. Based on an award-winning novel, it’s no surprise that the film’s script would follow suit. It’s a film that tugs on the heart strings without being overly sappy about it. This is a family drama with well drafted characters that are easy to identify with; we care about what happens because we like them, not because we have to. Two hours fly by because the film is tightly plotted; we see three decades of family life and experience the avalanche of emotions that comes with it.
It starts with a surprising performance from Kal Penn. Known for being Taj in both Van Wilder films, but perhaps better known as a marijuana enthusiast in the cult comedy Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, he eschews the comedy for a straight dramatic turn. Penn’s screen presence is hard to deny; away from jokes involving drugs or sex allows him to show how good of an actor he really is. It’s shocking and hard to look away from; without the crutch of blue humor he puts out perhaps the unlikeliest of great performances of 2007. While the film didn’t get enough attention or marketing to be noticed during awards season, it is a sign that once Penn moves on to straight drama roles he could develop into one of the top actors working ala Sean Penn.
When all is said and done, The Namesake is a film that was brilliant but never was given the time to find an audience with a tiny release earlier in the year. It’s unfortunate because it’s one of the best films of the year.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Presented in a Dolby Digital format with a widescreen presentation, the film has good but not great presentation. The film’s limited budget and cost-cutting measures befitting a small independent feature come through, as the film’s vibrant colors are not as polished as they could be nor is the audio as crisp as a larger feature would have.
The Extras
Deleted Scenes, with commentary by Nair, are included. There are only three of them, so there isn’t much that was trimmed from the film, but as usually nothing in the deleted scenes is long enough to have made much of a difference in the film.
The Anatomy of The Namesake: A Class at Columbia University’s Graduate Film School is Nair, amongst others, discussing the film. It’s interesting to hear some the nuts and bolts, from how films are financed to how much money they actually spent to make the film from preproduction to distribution. Nair also discusses a lot of what went into the film in depth with some of Columbia University’s finest; it’s a welcome departure from the usual EPK style that “Making of” featurettes that don’t tell much.
Fox Movie Channel Presents: In Character with Kal Penn is a short piece where Penn talks about the character and why he chose it, et al.
Kolkata Love Poem is a musical piece interspersing parts of India with clips from the film.
Photography as inspiration is a piece where lots of Nair’s camera works are set up to pictures which she saw that inspired them for the film.
The film’s Theatrical Trailer is included, as well as trailers for The Flying Scotsman, Water, In America and Blind Dating.
Commentary by Director Mira Nair
