movie review - Bend it Like Beckham
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-eight years and a million words
This is a British movie about an Indian-British girl who wants to be a soccer player. Her biggest impediment to that dream is not, as you might guess, the 'gordo' (e.g. white British) reaction, but her own society's staunch opposition to any involvement with British society beyond that dictated by the realities of actually living in Britain. Her sister's marriage is actually cut off at one point by the intended groom's parents when they think they see our heroin kissing a white boy.
It's this environment that propels the story through some skilfully executed - if not terribly original - turns. We see the white girlfriend's mother blunder about trying to be socially correct even while she suspects the girls of developing a romantic relationship. We endure the father's opposition, fueled by his own disappointment at his long-past rejection by the Brits when he wanted to join the cricket league. And - of course - there's the inevitability of the real romance that develops between our girl and her coach, a white boy with a knee that prevented him from taking his game to the big leagues. Like I say, nothing groundbreaking, though the characters are reasonably true, the plot consistent and well-paced, and the thing is certainly entertaining.
This movie is good fun and worth a look. Recommended.