Movie review: Brick Lane

Often its hard for newcomers to adapt. One family with Pakistani origins does its best to blend in with British society. Mail order brides are common practice in some parts of the world as are the more familiar arranged marriage. As a youngster Nazneed is “lined up” with a man now living in Britain.
Naivety sets in at an early age for this peasant girl. Sent to Britain at 17 we learn that she’s been living in England for the past 16 years, albeit not the happiest of times. Married to the “cultured” Chanu Ahmed you can sense the disconnect from the get go. Two young daughters further complicate life on the home front. News of the terrorist attacks further heightens the tensions in this family as members of the Muslim faith become singled out as terrorists or sympathizers to the cause, as it were.
More problems develop as the wife/husband relationship undergoes further strain as the wife becomes “friendly” with Karim, a rather charismatic lad with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Smart and topical Brick Lane offers up good performances and is a pretty good take on the state of affairs between minorities and the general population during times of restless unease. Very effective as the couple are Tananishtha Chatterjee and Satish Kaushik whose relationship can best be described as caustic. Old values from the homeland with a decided religious bent collide with more modern outlooks in rather insightful look at struggle from director Sarah Gavron.