My Son the Fanatic

Released 1999
Stars Om Puri, Rachel Griffiths, Stellan Skarsgård, Akbar Kurtha, Gopi Desai, Harish Patel, Bhasker Patel
Directed by Udayan Prasad
 
Writer Hanif Kureishi again examines a Pakistani coming to terms with his life in England. In this case it's a taxi driver (Puri) who's alienated from his wife, and whose son is rebelling against him for reasons he can't understand--even while he fosters a relationship with prostitute Griffiths. A multi-layered story, pointed and insightful.

Summary by Leonard Maltin

Boy, has this movie gained significance since September 11. It's about a man whose son, Farid, grows to feel alienated in Northern England. His parents immigrated there from Pakistan, and Farid was born in England. In college he began to recognize the discrimination around him, and the coup de grace was the meeting between the parents as they announced his engagement to a white girl. Her parents weren't exactly enthusiastic, but they also weren't overtly disapproving. It didn't matter, though--this meeting proves to be the final straw for Farid. He rejects his British culture to seek his Pakistani roots that he's never known. The film is about the father, Parvez, as he watches the boy, whom he has doted on for his entire life, slip into Islamic fundamentalism. At first he thinks his son is on drugs, but then he finds the truth. Which one would be worse?

This is a complicated film in that none of the characters are really good people. Parvez is a true gentleman who is completely tolerant of everyone around him, but he is essentially a pimp. He has a good heart, but his lack of morals is partly what pushes Farid toward the Islamic fanatics. Farid, on the other hand, does not have a good heart. He and the rest of his fanatical friends want to impose their rigid moral code on everyone else. When they fail, they resort to violence. Sound familiar? Can you say "Taliban?" It's this attitude that has spawned the terrorism we live with today.

The film is also complicated in its point of view. In fact, I'm not sure what the point of view is. It shows pretty much everyone and everything in a negative light. It shows prostitution, bigotry, and arrogance from the West, and intolerance, religious fanaticism, and violence from the Muslims. Of course, all of these things exist in both worlds, but not much is depicted positively here. There's Parvez's positive attitude, love for his son, and his tolerance toward all men, but that's about it. From that standpoint, it's a rather grim portrayal of the world. In the end, even Parvez gives up his family to pursue a prostitute. Was he wrong to do that? Should he live the rest of his life without love and passion? It's wrong to turn away his son, but there's not much he can do when he sees Farid beating the woman he loves.

This is a thought-provoking film that sheds some insight into the clash of the Eastern and Western cultures. When you see middle-class kids like Farid, who have been raised entirely in a western culture, turn to fundamentalist Islam, you know we're all in a lot of trouble. --Bill Alward, November 24, 2001