Beautiful People rated R 107 minutes Trimark Pictures Starring Charlotte Coleman, Charles Kay, Rosalind Ayres, Roger Sloman, Julian Firth, Heather Tobias, Danny Nussbaum, Sjobhan Redmond, Gilbert Martin, Steve Sweeney, Linda Bassett, Nicholas Farrell, Faruk Pruti, Dado Jehan, Edin Dzandzanovic Written and directed by Jasmin Dizdar
A Review by Akiva Gottlieb
When culture is used as a verb, one definition given by Webster's Dictionary is `to cultivate'. A few of their definitions of cultivate are `to promote the growth of,' `to nurture,' `to form and refine, and to `make friends with'. Jasmin Dizdar's `Beautiful People' is a film about culture, yet few of its characters are nurturing or friendly. To establish its tone, the film begins with a violent fight between two strangers on a London bus. One man is a Croat; the other is a Serb. The two don't even need to speak in order to know that they are enemies. Hate is so deeply ingrained in their minds that words could do little to help. `Beautiful People' is a bittersweet, ironic look at the lives of a cross-section of Londoners that can only be redeemed by their ability to turn hate into love.
For his first film, Dizdar weaves about five different stories into his tale of love, tolerance and family. We meet characters of all races from all different classes of society. A couple stories, in particular, stand out. One involves a doctor (Nicholas Farrell) who copes with his recent marital separation by befriending a young Balkan couple. The other involves a young heroin addict who unexpectedly finds himself in the midst of a war zone, and ends up a hero.
Like most first films, `Beautiful People', which won Best Picture at the Cannes Film Festival, is a bit rough around the edges. Not all the stories are particularly involving, and the odd blend of pathos and humor is often misguided. But it is a nod to Jazmin Dizdar's maturity that all the stories feel human. Unlike most ensemble films, `Beautiful People' doesn't use a superficial plot thread to tie the stories together. Instead, the characters are linked by their similar feelings and actions.
Over the past few years, a few important films (most notably Emir Kusturica's `Underground') have put their own spin on the turmoil in the Balkan region. `Beautiful People' is the first to explore life after survival, where many realize that cultural diffusion can be a war in its own right.
With this film, Jasmin Dizdar has taken a bold, ambitious look at prejudice in a cultural melting pot. However, his greatest achievement is shining all his characters in a sympathetic light, regardless of their race or gender. His all-inclusive approach to the characters is the real lesson to be learned from the experience.
The struggle of this group of people is one that millions of immigrants go through every day, on all continents. But in Dizdar's eyes, whether they be black, white, green or red, they're all beautiful. That's cultivation in a nutshell.
B
Akiva Gottlieb Critical66@yahoo.com http://pictureshow.8m.com
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