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Movies / On DVD / Brick Lane
Brick Lane

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Brick Lane (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 92

Fresh: 59

Rotten:33

Average Rating: 6.2/10

Consensus: Frustratingly slow-moving, but ultimately saved by Chatterjee's solid acting and Gavron's gentle patience.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for some sexuality and brief strong language.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:16-11-2007

Synopsis: Nazneen’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of seventeen,. Forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s... Nazneen’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of seventeen,. Forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her existence – and to do her duty to her husband. A man of inflated ideas (and stomach), he sorely tests her compliance.

Told from birth that she must not fight her fate, Nazneen submits, devoting her life to raising her family and slapping down her demons of discontent. Until the day that Karim, a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life.

Against a background of escalating racial tension, they embark on an affair that finally forces Nazneen to take control of her life. Set in multicultural Britain, Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit. --© Sony Pictures Classics
[More]

Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum

Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum, Lana Rahman, Harvey Virdi, Lalita Ahmed, Zafreen

Director: Sarah Gavron

Director: Sarah Gavron
Screenwriter: Abi Morgan, Laura Jones
Producer: Alison Owen, Christopher Collins
Composer: Jocelyn Pook
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for Brick Lane

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Monica Ali’s sensitive sprawling text about a Bangledeshi wife (Chatterjee) forced into an east London marriage gets a sanded-down blandification as it makes its lurch onto the big screen.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
11/16/07
Matthew Turner
thelondonpaper

Underwhelming.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
11/16/07
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Tannishtha Chatterjee perfectly captures the emotional awakening of shy heroine Nazneen.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
11/16/07
Sun Online

Although well-acted and heartfelt, it provokes shrugged shoulders rather than the tears it’s clearly striving for.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
11/16/07
Daily Mirror [UK]

The romance at the heart of Brick Lane never comes alive. Chatterjee is doleful and weepy, Simpson enervated.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
11/16/07
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gavron's movie finds an unfashionably gentle, human optimism in the face of all this, and a sympathetic performance from Chatterjee makes it plausible.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/16/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Quietly effective, acted with resource and directed with the kind of patient skill it needs.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
11/15/07
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The film is full of fabrics and shimmer and embroiderings of light and colour, giving a slender story the shy blush of art.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
11/15/07
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

Rich and subtle in its characterisation, Brick Lane is an enlightening tale about the breadth and depth of ordinary lives, how they intersect with history, and where they remain hidden away.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
11/15/07
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The kind of meaningless middlebrow sludge that passes for “quality movie-making” in some of the more conservative sectors of the British film industry

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/15/07
Kevin Maher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Don't expect too many surprises from this low-key story of a Bangladeshi woman who learns to stand on her own two feet after years of stultifying arranged marriage.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/15/07
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brick Lane is beautifully shot and superbly acted but the story is slow-moving and ultimately rather uneventful.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/15/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

The daily grind of a Brick Lane Bangladeshi is credibly brought to life in this sensitive and intelligent adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/14/07
Anna Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Monica Ali’s best-selling debut novel about life in London’s Bangladeshi quarter gets a sensitive treatment from director Sarah Gavron, deftly condensing its sprawling narrative without sacrificing colour or texture.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
11/14/07
Neil Smith
Total Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gavron cleverly outlines the closed-in boundaries of Nazneen’s Brick Lane.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/14/07
Cath Clarke
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a hard heart that isn't immersed by this delicately told tale.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
11/14/07
Matt Bochenski
Little White Lies

Based on Monica Ali's bestselling novel, this is an insightful look at a woman searching across cultural barriers for a place to belong. Not only is it a strong story, but it's great to see such an involving film set in London's Asian-Muslim community.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/06/07
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/13/09
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A blandly earnest coming-of-age story.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/18/08
Kevin Courrier
Boxoffice Magazine
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Latest News for Brick Lane

January 23, 2009: A movie whose visuals are lovely to behold and lyrically awash in sensuality and desire, but sets the lives of women back at least a few centuries. Opens in new window
More...

January 19, 2009: A movie whose visuals are lovely to behold and lyrically awash in sensuality and desire, but sets the lives of women back at least a few centuries. Opens in new window
More...

June 19, 2008: Critics Consensus: Get Smart Misses by That Much, Guru Gets No Love
This week at the movies, we've got wacky spies (Get Smart, starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway) and silly self-help specialists (The Love Guru starring Mike Myers and... More...

June 18, 2008: Arranged marriage at center of cross-cultural drama set in London. Opens in new window
More...

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