MY SON THE FANATIC
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Miramax Director: Udayan Prasad Writer: Hanif Kureishi Cast: Rachel Griffiths, Om Puri, Gopi Desai, Akbar Kurtha, Stellan Skarsgard
Let's take for granted that most liberal, broad-minded moviegoers would like to a society that is not racist, one in which extreme beliefs of any sort are unwelcome and in which people of all races, national origins and religions get along and even fall in love with one another. But how didactic our school lessons on these issues have been! And how intriguing a good, sincere, solid and well-developed film can put dramatic and comic touches alike on these themes. One such adventure in storytelling is Hanif Kureishi's "My Son the Fanatic," with Udayan Prasad at the helm and featuring one of India's most celebrated performers, from whose point of view the tale progresses.
The movie, which takes place in Northern England in an area inhabited largely by immigrants from Pakistan centers on Parvez (Om Puri), a middle-aged man who drives a taxi for a living. A hard-working fellow who puts in twelve hours a day, Parvez tries to make ends meet by hooking up rich clients (including tourists) with prostitutes in the area. He is particularly fond of one streetwalker, the lonely Bettina (Rachel Griffiths), whom he recommends highly to a notably prosperous German businessman, Schitz (Stellan Skarsgard. Though in some circles Parvez could be considered a pimp, one who goes so far as to arrange orgies as well as handle the driving, we in the audience see him as a decent, secular Muslim who has largely assimilated into the British culture. Nonetheless, in one embarrassing instance he is taunted by a racist stand-up comedian. He cannot count on his home life for relaxation: his wife Minoo (Gopi Desai) is never "tender" with him and though she wears conventional South Asian dress she complains that Parvez never takes her anywhere. What is more disturbing is that his 18-year-old son, Farid (Akbar Kurtha), has just broken off his engagement to the daughter of the chief police inspector and has joined a Muslim fundamentalist group which preaches against "white and Jewish propaganda that there is nothing to our lives but the empty accountancy of things."
Though Parez is indeed pimping to raise extra money to support his family and has taken to more than casual drinking, he gains the sympathy of the audience by his tolerant demeanor, particularly for the empathy he feels toward one hooker. He relies on Bettina to provide him an understanding ear for his distress at his son's new zealotry and, despite their differences in age and religion, Parvez falls in love with the younger woman and starts an affair. Bettina's is attracted to Parvez who, she feels, is the only man who has not exploited her, and when they kiss she declares that he is the first man with whom she has done this in a long time.
Essentially, through its involving story featuring well- developed characters, "My Son the Fanatic" takes a noble stand against extremism of all kinds. The fundamentalist Pakistanis are skewed, particularly for their hypocrisy (the bearded head of the local cult, a man who whines about England's corruption, asks for Parvez's help in arranging for additional immigration), and partly because they take the law into their own hands. In the picture's most dramatic episode given added tension because the tautness is carefully built up, a band of fundemantalists attack a whorehouse, lobbing Molotov cocktails through the windows and punching out the women as they flee into the street. But writer Hanif Kureishi, though his principal character, takes a stand as well against the hedonistic businessman appropriately named Schitz and played villainously by the wonderful Stellan Skarsgard. Schitz uses his hooker as a plaything, giving lavish tips to Parvez for catering to his needs, but cares nothing about anyone but himself. We can see that Farid's rage against the secular, capitalistic state is fired by his experience with people like Schitz and also by the behavior of his dad--who, though a Muslim, is absolutely tolerant of prostitution. Because these motivations are carefully developed, we wonder at the essay of critic Harvey Thompson of the World Socialist Web Site, which finds a weakness in that "the explanation of [fundamentalism's] attraction for large numbers of youth is somehow shallow."
"My Son the Fanatic" is solid fare for the arthouse circuit with particularly fine performances from veteran actor Om Puri ("Gandhi") and Rachel Griffiths ("Hilary and Jackie"). It should serve to make thoughtful people even more maddened by the so-called high government officials who pronounced a death sentence on Salman Rushdie.
Rated R. Running Time: 86 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten
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