Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Although there has been a renewed interested in women’s football recently, I should state that the timing of me finally watching Bend It Like Beckham, a film I have owned for at least a decade, is entirely coincidental. I just figured that it was time I actually checked it off the list. 

Directed by Gurinder Chadha, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Guljit Bindra and Paul Mayeda Berges, this is the tale of two young women who want to pursue their passion for playing football. Jesminda aka Jess (Parminder Nagra) comes from a traditional Indian family who are dead against the idea of her being so “unladylike”, while her friend, Jules (Keira Knightley), has more accepting parents. The two hope to do well enough in a tournament to attract the attention of a talent scout, but that involves Jess lying to her parents as they prepare for her sister’s big wedding day. I hope that event doesn’t clash with an important football game. And I hope the coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), doesn’t create any tension between our two leads.

Although it’s about football, Bend It Like Beckham isn’t really about that at all. It is, of course, but it also very much isn’t. It’s about finding something you love to do, connecting with people who support you in that, and moving into full adulthood while clearly communicating with your family as you set new boundaries and goals. It’s also about cultural differences, with Jess feeling the extra weight of the Indian family traditions that are supposed to inform her fate.

Both Nagra and Knightley are enjoyable in the main roles, although neither seem too convincing in the over-edited moments of action on the pitch. Nagra is the better of the two, a bit more believable throughout, and also given much more of the screentime. The focus is on her character throughout, with Knightley just a main supporting player, and she’s a great presence to spend time with. The same cannot be said of Meyers, someone I have rarely enjoyed seeing in movies. Maybe I have yet to see his best work, but he rarely feels natural and at ease in front of the camera, and his main plot strand here is easily the worst aspect of the movie. Shaheen Khan, Anumpam Kher, and Archie Panjabi are all very good, playing Jess’s mother, father, and sister, respectively, and Frank Harper and Juliet Stevenson are good fun as the parents of Jules. Ameet Chana is also very enjoyable, playing a good friend named Tony, and there is a small role for Shaznay Lewis that shows a potential she never had a chance to fulfil.

Nicely weaving between the more uplifting moments and the dramatic, happy to intersperse realism and honesty with flights of cinematic fancy, Bend It Like Beckham is an easy crowd-pleaser. The pacing is pretty great, there are decent tunes scattered throughout the soundtrack, and the third act has a sense of jubilation that stems from the double-whammy of the football dream and the gorgeous wedding celebrations. This may not be as good as Chadha’s debut feature, the superb Bhaji On The Beach, but it is arguably aimed at a wider audience looking for something cheerful and optimistic.

It may not top the league, in terms of either football films or British comedy dramas, but it’s certainly battling for a decent place in the table.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: Bhaji On The Beach (1993)

The full feature debut of director Gurinder Chadha, and the first feature screenplay from the talented Meera Syal, Bhaji On The Beach is an entertaining and insightful look at the lives of a variety of British Asian women in the 1990s. Although things are exaggerated for cinematic effect, it's somehow a film that feels extra poignant when viewed three decades after it was first released, considering how many moments feel as if they could be filmed in exactly the same way today.

A group of women are taking a trip to Blackpool. They are of various ages, which means that they also hold various attitudes about their expectations and perceived responsibilities, but they may eventually realise that they still have a lot in common. Although no member of the group is completely neglected by the script/direction, the focus moves between three of the women who are going through the biggest struggles. There's Asha (Lalita Ahmed), a woman who allows herself frequent Bollywood-esque daydreams to escape what she views as the drudgery of her every day life. Hashida (Sarita Khajuria) has just found out that she is pregnant, but she hasn't even told her family about the boy she has been seeing for the past year. Last, but not least, is Ginder (Kim Vithana), who has caused quite a stir by seeking a divorce from her husband, Ranjit (Jimmi Harkishin). Desperate to save face, and possibly take back his son, Ranjit heads to Blackpool with his brothers alongside him. It soon becomes clear that Ginder could be in danger is she's caught while enjoying her new-found freedom. 

There are no original plot elements here, not when you think of what is at the heart of every issue, but I can think of few films that mix all of these things together so well. It also helps that viewers are being shown this through the filter of the British Asian experience, which helps it to stand out from the crowd, and marks it out as a forerunner to a few other movies that would try to convey that specific “culture clash” (some also directed by Chadha) in an insightful and crowd-pleasing way.

Filling the film with believable dialogue throughout, it’s clear that Syal has pulled together a lot of what she knows for the screenplay. The authenticity helps the cast to feel perfectly-suited to each role, and Chadha does an excellent job of either adding to the weight of certain scenes or managing to lighten things up enough to save viewers from being overwhelmed. An Indian-language cover of Summer Holiday also raises a smile, so big congratulations to the person who picked that for the soundtrack.

Everyone does a great job onscreen, but the very best moments involve either Ahmed or Vithana, both playing women who yearn for escape in different ways. Khajuria is okay, and Mo Sesay does a good job of being her confused and “secret” boyfriend. Harkishin plays the villain of the piece, dealing with his two brothers like an angel on one shoulder and devil on the other, and he deserves praise for giving his all to a role that paints him in the worst possible light.

Bhaji On The Beach has so much to say - about race, about misogyny, about pressure from families, and much more - that it should feel overcrowded and overwrought. The fact that it doesn’t is testament to the skills of everyone involved, but particular praise needs to go to Chadha and Syal, who worked together on a debut feature that remains a highlight in both of their careers.

9/10

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