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.
Comment
11/16/07
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Brick Lane (2008)
64 %
Reviews Counted: 80 Fresh: 51 Rotten:29 Average Rating: 6.1/10
Consensus:
Frustratingly slow-moving, but ultimately saved by Chatterjee's solid acting and Gavron's gentle patience.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating]
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
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 East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum, Lana Rahman
Director: Sarah Gavron
Screenwriter: Abi Morgan, Laura Jones
Producer: Alison Owen, Christopher Collins
Composer: Jocelyn Pook
Screenwriter: Abi Morgan, Laura Jones
Producer: Alison Owen, Christopher Collins
Composer: Jocelyn Pook
Reviews
Tannishtha Chatterjee perfectly captures the emotional awakening of shy heroine Nazneen.
11/16/07
Although well-acted and heartfelt, it provokes shrugged shoulders rather than the tears it’s clearly striving for.
11/16/07
The romance at the heart of Brick Lane never comes alive. Chatterjee is doleful and weepy, Simpson enervated.
11/16/07
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.
11/16/07
Top Critic
Quietly effective, acted with resource and directed with the kind of patient skill it needs.
11/15/07
The film is full of fabrics and shimmer and embroiderings of light and colour, giving a slender story the shy blush of art.
11/15/07
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.
11/15/07
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
11/15/07
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.
11/15/07
Top Critic
Brick Lane is beautifully shot and superbly acted but the story is slow-moving and ultimately rather uneventful.
11/15/07
The daily grind of a Brick Lane Bangladeshi is credibly brought to life in this sensitive and intelligent adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel.
11/14/07
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.
11/14/07
Top Critic
Gavron cleverly outlines the closed-in boundaries of Nazneen’s Brick Lane.
11/14/07
Top Critic
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.
09/06/07
Small, intimate and achingly modern, Brick Lane is a lovely study involving both one woman's awakening and the inevitability of cross-cultural pollination.
08/01/08
Brick Lane is a grown-up movie. It recognizes that there are different kinds of love and that some of them don't involve happily-ever-afters.
07/31/08
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Interview: Director Sarah Gavron, lead actress Tannishtha Chatterjee on 'Brick Lane'
by: lovelacy 6/28
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(2008 USA release)-Sarah Gavron's BRICK LANE gets picked up for stateside release!!!
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