THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST
***
Director: Mira Nair
Screenwriter: Ami Boghani
Principal cast:
Riz Ahmed
Live Schrieber
Kiefer Sullivan
Kate Hudson
Country: USA/UK/Qatar
Classification: MA15+
Rating: ***
Runtime: 130 mins.
Australian release date: 23 May 2013
Previewed at: Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Sydney, 23 May 2013.
Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, based on the short-listed Booker Prize novel of the same name by Mohsin Hamid, opened the Venice Film Festival last year. Set in Pakistan and the USA, it is a study of the dangers of both Western and Islamic fundamentalism, wherein paranoia reigns and no side trusts the other.
Changez (Riz Ahmed), a young Pakistani man, moves to the USA to attend Princeton and is offered a job with a prestigious valuation firm in NYC. He embraces his success in the adopted country he has always loved. That is until the aftermath of 9/11, when he becomes suspect because of his ‘Middle Eastern appearance’ and is subjected to random searches and general suspicion, effectively bringing an end to his American Dream. His relationship with his boss Jim Cross (Keifer Sutherland) disintegrates, as does his relationship with his girlfriend Erica (Kate Hudson), a photographer who comes with her own personal baggage. Changez returns to Lahore where he takes a job as a professor at a local university, and where circumstances bring him into contact with an American journalist, Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber). Both men suspect the other of being more than they appear to be, a fact that becomes evident when Bobby interviews Changez in the hope of finding out the whereabouts of a recently kidnapped USA citizen. As in all good thrillers, the story unfolds in a series of twists and turns and you are left guessing the outcome as more information is revealed.
This is a tense drama that throws up many questions about the rights of people who became suspected terrorists overnight once a brutal act of sabotage took place on US soil. It also shows how the negative treatment of immigrants can turn people towards extremist views, thus questioning fundamentalism from both sides and showing how no-one benefits from such zealous points of view. It also demonstrates how the world has changed forever and how difficult it will be to ever overcome the current way of thinking. The performances are all excellent, particularly Ahmed’s, and the film is supported by a stunning soundtrack. Nair has succeeded in bringing this highly controversial subject to the screen without prejudice.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a must-see for anyone interested in the state of the world and the grim future that awaits us all when future generations set out to seek revenge for the mistakes made by their predecessors.
Screenwriter: Ami Boghani
Principal cast:
Riz Ahmed
Live Schrieber
Kiefer Sullivan
Kate Hudson
Country: USA/UK/Qatar
Classification: MA15+
Rating: ***
Runtime: 130 mins.
Australian release date: 23 May 2013
Previewed at: Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, Sydney, 23 May 2013.
Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, based on the short-listed Booker Prize novel of the same name by Mohsin Hamid, opened the Venice Film Festival last year. Set in Pakistan and the USA, it is a study of the dangers of both Western and Islamic fundamentalism, wherein paranoia reigns and no side trusts the other.
Changez (Riz Ahmed), a young Pakistani man, moves to the USA to attend Princeton and is offered a job with a prestigious valuation firm in NYC. He embraces his success in the adopted country he has always loved. That is until the aftermath of 9/11, when he becomes suspect because of his ‘Middle Eastern appearance’ and is subjected to random searches and general suspicion, effectively bringing an end to his American Dream. His relationship with his boss Jim Cross (Keifer Sutherland) disintegrates, as does his relationship with his girlfriend Erica (Kate Hudson), a photographer who comes with her own personal baggage. Changez returns to Lahore where he takes a job as a professor at a local university, and where circumstances bring him into contact with an American journalist, Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber). Both men suspect the other of being more than they appear to be, a fact that becomes evident when Bobby interviews Changez in the hope of finding out the whereabouts of a recently kidnapped USA citizen. As in all good thrillers, the story unfolds in a series of twists and turns and you are left guessing the outcome as more information is revealed.
This is a tense drama that throws up many questions about the rights of people who became suspected terrorists overnight once a brutal act of sabotage took place on US soil. It also shows how the negative treatment of immigrants can turn people towards extremist views, thus questioning fundamentalism from both sides and showing how no-one benefits from such zealous points of view. It also demonstrates how the world has changed forever and how difficult it will be to ever overcome the current way of thinking. The performances are all excellent, particularly Ahmed’s, and the film is supported by a stunning soundtrack. Nair has succeeded in bringing this highly controversial subject to the screen without prejudice.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a must-see for anyone interested in the state of the world and the grim future that awaits us all when future generations set out to seek revenge for the mistakes made by their predecessors.