Critic's Grade: B+

Frank's Film Tip: Come along and follow the yellow BRICK LANE in search of a distraught Muslim woman's choppy emotional trail to self-actualization

Filmmaker Sarah Gavron’s Brick Lane is an economically poignant melodrama about a young Muslim girl’s fragile mindset and the journey that leads to her self-discovery. Vibrantly enriching and soulful, Gavron’s poetic exposition details the trials and tribulations of a young Bangladesh beauty full of both promise and pathos. Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Monica Ali Brick Lane is affectionate in its heart-wrenching spirit about conformity to one’s unsettled psyche. The quiet turbulence and overshadowing tranquility in Gavron’s narrative is relentlessly affecting in mind and consciousness.

Screenwriters Abi Morgan and Laura Jones fuel this emotionally layered exposition with lyrical forethought. The internal struggles regarding women of conflict—particularly foreign women of faith and traditional fortitude—is examined with flowing intensity. Gavron’s impeccable direction and the strong absorbing performances deem Brick Lane as an elegant cautionary tale of despair and determination.

The film’s youthful protagonist Nazneen resides in a rural village in Bangladesh along with her parents and sisters. Nazneen was always taught to deal with the frustrations that come up in life by her insightful mother. Optimistically, this is one potent psychological gift that any parent can convey to their impressionable offspring. With this understanding in mind Nazneen will soon be lost in the oblivion of her seemingly strong-willed mother’s philosophical outlook. Soon, this child’s innocence and guidance will be violated by an inexplicable tragedy so haunting in conception.

As Nazneen and her close-knit sister Hasina play harmoniously in a nearby stream with some boys her tortured mother has decided to commit suicide thus ending whatever inner misery that befuddled her will to exist. The harsh reality of seeing her mother’s lifeless body floating on the stillborn water dutifully robs Nazneen of her impressionable childhood. This harsh reality of sadness and mounting cynicism will play a definite role in the vulnerability of a young gal not prepared to handle the requisite of adversity yet to be detected on the mental radar.

Life-changing plans are in store for the now 17-year old Nazneen as her father plots to wed her off to an older suitor named Chanu (Satish Haushik). Educated and somewhat established, Chanu is a Muslim that lives in London’s East End section. This means that Nazneen’s beloved Bangladesh backyard of scenic serenity is to be sacrificed for a new—if not uncertain—livelihood elsewhere where her memories of happiness and heartache will remain secluded.

Enter sixteen years later. Incredulously, we witness a disillusioned Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) pitted in an abyss of domesticated strife. Now thirty-something, Nazneen is stuck living in a squalor-induced housing complex known as Brick Lane that serves as a seedy sanctuary for misplaced and misbegotten immigrants. As part of Nazneen’s dismal existence, she’s still married to the indifferent Chanu. Also, Nazneen has two daughters—disagreeable 14-year old Shahana (Naeema Begum) and 10-year old Bibi (Lana Rahman).

The familial feud within Nazneen’s circle of loved ones is extensive to say the least. Her marriage to the wish-washy Chanu has been strained for quite some time. In fact, the rebellious nature of teenaged Shahana may stem from the lack of respect that she holds against her father since his weak-kneed financial position and absence of professional authority around London doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Although Nazneen maintains her role as an obedient Bangladesh housewife it is unbearable to see her husband Chanu channeling some feigned self-importance even though his plight poisons his disenfranchised family looking to be rescued from their dour situational malaise.

There are some distractions that enlighten Nazneen momentarily. Reluctantly, Chanu agrees to let Nazneen open up a sewing business in their cramped apartment. She befriends countrywoman Razia (Harvey Virdi), a spunky individual that is a notable contrast to the reserved Nazneen. Razia generously gives a ragtag sewing machine to her shy neighbor so that she can realize her duties as a low-grade but proud self-employed woman. Eventually, Nazneen will gradually grow close to handsome deliveryman Karim (Christopher Simpson) as he brings out the personality and excitement long missing in her lonely life. They briefly engage in a love affair but that dies out soon when Karim becomes a militant Muslim protesting his people’s persecution in the aftermath of the 9/11 crisis.

Feeling dismayed by Karim’s other passion for political revenge against anti-Muslim detractors, Nazneen has no choice but to endure the problematic Chanu whose rising debts and disregard for marital/parental responsibility has her terribly skeptical. It remains very uncertain about whether or not she will actually find genuine love and reassurance in a stable, respectful man. On top of all the turmoil, Chanu wants to return to Bangladesh and leave Nazneen and the kids walloping in the regrettable quagmire that he created. How much can the withering Nazneen take anyway? Remember this is a wreck-of-a-woman that lost her first-born to crib death to establish her insecurity into motherhood. Equally disheartening is the sordid news that Nazneen’s precious sister has taken to the Bangladesh streets as a prostitute strapped for cash.

Fittingly, Brick Lane is a landscape of revolving resonance. From Gavron’s focused and fearless direction behind the camera to Jocelyn Pook’s sweet-sounding musical composition the film radiates with solid warmth and disturbing wonderment. Chatterjee turns out a courageous performance as a wounded woman that has surprising strength and dignity beneath the constant wheels of chaos. She endures the humiliation that plagues her hapless husband and insolent children but also understands their self-inflicted grieving as her dire surroundings at Brick Lane warrants such melancholic morass.

Chatterjee’s Nazneen is an unwilling victim in a topsy-turvy world filled with humanistic destruction and cultural disdain. Still, she prevails with a gracefulness and sense of growth as a practicing Muslim woman liberated by her independence to withstand the degradation of her deteriorating utopia.

Frank rates this film: *** stars (out of 4 stars)

All Reviews by Frank Ochieng [Home page]
If you are the author of this review, you may edit it by signing in.