Mira Nair's remarkable "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" opens with the swift kidnapping of an American professor at a university in Lahore, Pakistan, then shifts its attention to another professor, American- educated Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), who proceeds to tell his life story to American journalist Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber). Khan's ordeal is the basis for Nair's intelligent and intriguing thriller, which poses many questions that easily pop up but are difficult to answer.
What is fascinating about the movie is how Nair makes the audience involved and invested in the main character Changez. The first half of the film depicts him as a striving youth who wants to make it in the big leagues of 2001 Wall Street financing, complete with a boss to impress and a love interest. Changez is a likable fellow in the first half - earnest, do-gooder and all-in-all an average Joe trying to make it like the rest of us. Then came that unfortunate day. He is transformed into a brooding, contemplating young adult, questioning where he stands and what he represents. He then returns to Lahore as a university professor, where he uses his lectures to condemn the American policies. A radical, albeit a subtle and rational one - he becomes very popular and respected at the university to the point where students are willing to put themselves before him.
It is quite the challenge for lead Riz Ahmed, yet he remarkably carries the whole movie on his shoulders without diminishing its core virtues. Ahmed has a certain charisma in his speech and mannerisms that makes it difficult for anyone to dislike him disagree with him. He is wise to perform Changez as a outwardly humble person, but with raging flames in his eyes. If the powers that be are right, he has high potential to become a leading man in the near future.
That's not to say almost everyone else in the film are saints or sinners as well. There are no heroes and villains in the movie, just normal, sometimes misguided people shaped by some very unfortunate circumstances. Take Changez's artist love interest Erica (kate Hudson) for example. In one scene she expresses conflicts with her relationship to Changez, but reveals surprising depths rather than being predictable given the film's topic. Even the reporter interviewing him has his fair share of problems. They're only human after all.
I am admittedly not familiar with Mira Nair's filmography, the only film of hers that I have seen prior to this was "The Namesake" a great film about the son of Indian immigrants who has a culture clash between his family's culture and that of the land he was born in. Nair sort of revisits this theme for this movie, but this time she makes it darker, and throws in American prejudice and hostility post-9/11 into the mix to complicate things further. This is not a film where matters are solved easily and wounds heal fast. It also ends as it should, should the audience choose their perspective of what Nair shot.
Nair, along with her screenwriters (including the original novelist on whose book this was based on), her cinematographer, and her composer Michael Andrews, all not only provides an emotional yet unglamorous depth to Changez but also that of his environments as he progresses year by year - director and crew have transformed the locations into more than just a backdrop, they are characters by themselves, they live and breathe among the troublesome paths that lay ahead.
A key theme for the movie is exploring the fundamentals. Changez's boss (Kiefer Sutherland) believes in those financial principles to make money. A suspected terrorist leader later mentions to Changez somewhere along the lines of "to live based on the fundamentals" of their religion. Changez is visibly upset by both men's statements and his stance is never resolved. Perhaps that is why he is "The Reluctant Fundamentalist". A movie's title has rarely been more apt than this.
This topical and important film shows that there is no good nor bad side. People just do bad things when they get caught up in unfortunate events. Nair shows the film from one perspective that the major audience is not used to, but doesn't overtly forsake the other side. Nair, an Indian-born filmmaker, is to be commended for showing a respectful yet somewhat honest portrayal of Pakistan during these times of real-life conflict between the two. It's clear that she crafts the film with care for both content and characters.
Halfway through the movie, Changez tells Lincoln "You picked your side, mine was chosen for me." People either have a firm stand, buckle under the pressure of authority and emotion, or is forced to take it without options. Where do we stand on this issue as a whole?
What is fascinating about the movie is how Nair makes the audience involved and invested in the main character Changez. The first half of the film depicts him as a striving youth who wants to make it in the big leagues of 2001 Wall Street financing, complete with a boss to impress and a love interest. Changez is a likable fellow in the first half - earnest, do-gooder and all-in-all an average Joe trying to make it like the rest of us. Then came that unfortunate day. He is transformed into a brooding, contemplating young adult, questioning where he stands and what he represents. He then returns to Lahore as a university professor, where he uses his lectures to condemn the American policies. A radical, albeit a subtle and rational one - he becomes very popular and respected at the university to the point where students are willing to put themselves before him.
It is quite the challenge for lead Riz Ahmed, yet he remarkably carries the whole movie on his shoulders without diminishing its core virtues. Ahmed has a certain charisma in his speech and mannerisms that makes it difficult for anyone to dislike him disagree with him. He is wise to perform Changez as a outwardly humble person, but with raging flames in his eyes. If the powers that be are right, he has high potential to become a leading man in the near future.
That's not to say almost everyone else in the film are saints or sinners as well. There are no heroes and villains in the movie, just normal, sometimes misguided people shaped by some very unfortunate circumstances. Take Changez's artist love interest Erica (kate Hudson) for example. In one scene she expresses conflicts with her relationship to Changez, but reveals surprising depths rather than being predictable given the film's topic. Even the reporter interviewing him has his fair share of problems. They're only human after all.
I am admittedly not familiar with Mira Nair's filmography, the only film of hers that I have seen prior to this was "The Namesake" a great film about the son of Indian immigrants who has a culture clash between his family's culture and that of the land he was born in. Nair sort of revisits this theme for this movie, but this time she makes it darker, and throws in American prejudice and hostility post-9/11 into the mix to complicate things further. This is not a film where matters are solved easily and wounds heal fast. It also ends as it should, should the audience choose their perspective of what Nair shot.
Nair, along with her screenwriters (including the original novelist on whose book this was based on), her cinematographer, and her composer Michael Andrews, all not only provides an emotional yet unglamorous depth to Changez but also that of his environments as he progresses year by year - director and crew have transformed the locations into more than just a backdrop, they are characters by themselves, they live and breathe among the troublesome paths that lay ahead.
A key theme for the movie is exploring the fundamentals. Changez's boss (Kiefer Sutherland) believes in those financial principles to make money. A suspected terrorist leader later mentions to Changez somewhere along the lines of "to live based on the fundamentals" of their religion. Changez is visibly upset by both men's statements and his stance is never resolved. Perhaps that is why he is "The Reluctant Fundamentalist". A movie's title has rarely been more apt than this.
This topical and important film shows that there is no good nor bad side. People just do bad things when they get caught up in unfortunate events. Nair shows the film from one perspective that the major audience is not used to, but doesn't overtly forsake the other side. Nair, an Indian-born filmmaker, is to be commended for showing a respectful yet somewhat honest portrayal of Pakistan during these times of real-life conflict between the two. It's clear that she crafts the film with care for both content and characters.
Halfway through the movie, Changez tells Lincoln "You picked your side, mine was chosen for me." People either have a firm stand, buckle under the pressure of authority and emotion, or is forced to take it without options. Where do we stand on this issue as a whole?