Bend It Like Beckham (2003, DVD)

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL WITH DAVID BECKHAM?! Being an avid supporter of Beckham's former rival team (Arsenal), it makes me wonder even more as to why he is so special. Sure, he can bend a ball like crazy. But there are many footballers who can do that. Sure, he can create brilliant crosses. But other footballers can do that as well. He may look attractive to many girls. But other footballers do as well. So, I was immediately curious as to why the film Bend it Like Beckham was so well-revered. I was guessing this film would praise Beckham as if he were a God. I was glad the film proved my premonitions wrong.

Anyways, before I talk about the film, a little bit on the plot. The film basically tells the story of Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), an Indian girl who is mad about David Beckham and one day, hopes to play professional football (soccer) just like Beckham. However, the problem is her parents (played by Anupam Kher and Shaheen Khan) want Jess to settle in with a husband and become a stay-at-home mother like all other proper Indian women are. Also, Jess does not believe that she has the talent to propel herself into professional women's football.

However, after seeing Jess play football in the park, Jules (Keira Knightley), a girl who plays football for a local girls' side, encourages Jess to play for the team. Jess immediately impresses the girls' football coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), and soon becomes a critical part of the football team. However, none of Jess' family, not even her sister Pinky (Archie Punjabi), know that Jess has been playing football.

Also, Jess starts to fall in love with Joe, which starts to create a bit of a rift between Jess and Jules, who also likes Joe. The rest of the film chronicles the rollercoaster ride Jess embarks on.

Now, back to what I was saying earlier. At first, I thought this film was merely a promoting tool for Beckham's status as a football player. While it certainly does further boost the image of Beckham, the film cracks jokes about Beckham from the beginning with both of Jess' parents asking why she has posters of a bald man all over her bedroom.

Also, the film is not all about football. The film focuses a lot on the cultural differences between the Indians and the Western World. The film establishes how the Indians keep up with tradition (arranged marriages, marrying an Indian husband/wife, the ability to cook Indian meals etc.) while the Western World try to keep up with trends (i.e. the scenes in the lingerie shop with Jules and her mother). It is also interesting to compare how the Indians are very superstitious and devoutly religious, while the Western World is more secular.

However, when analyzing the culture clash between the East and the West, Jess is faced with the struggle of having the best of both worlds. While she wants to maintain the tradition of the Indian world, she also wants to have the freedom of choice that is prevalent in the Western World. While her sister Pinky is also faced with the same predicament, Jess is clearly the most affected character of this clash of cultures (Pinky has a stronger sense of pride in the Indian culture than Jess does).

This film is very relevant to someone like me, since I am also faced with this clash in cultures. Being Chinese, Spanish, Filipino, but now growing up in Australia, I am also faced with the struggle of having to deal with both the Eastern and the Western world, deciding which side I fall into. Because I know the feeling of being in that kind of situation, I can fully empathize with Jess and the situation she is in.

Also, the film's director and writer, Gurinder Chadha, does a great job in differentiating between the people of the Eastern world, Western world and the people in between. However, she does an even more brilliant job of creating full and complete characters that are far from stereotypical. While the characters from the Eastern world can be harsh, we can understand why they act in the manner they do. The film allows us to understand how every character feels regardless of where they are from and that is great for this film, because it could have easily fallen into the trap of creating one-dimensional, narrow-minded, stereotypical characters that most films these days fall into.

Also, it is very funny to pick up on the subtle character quirks that characters in the East and the West have, and this is where most of the laughter comes in. For example, Jess' mother's constant complaints about her daughters not following Indian tradition always made me laugh, because it is still very true today that a lot of Indian mothers want their children to follow tradition. It is funny seeing Jules' mother constantly embarrassing her daughter for having muscles bigger than most boys and for wearing sports bras rather than any other bra. It is also funny to see how Pinky and Jess differ, with one being more traditional than the other (to the point where Pinky listens to a Hindi version of Power of Love and Jess would stray away from any of that). Just little tiny subtleties like that is what makes this film as witty and amusing as it is.

The film also excels because it is very fresh. By that, I mean that there are a lot of new, unknown faces in the film and, as summed up by director Chadha, seeing a new actor's face is like bringing in a "blank slate". And in effect, it is. Parminder Nagra is great as Jess, fully portraying the wide range of emotions that her character faces throughout the film. She has this innocent look about her that can intrigue an audience, yet at the same time, melt down the audience. A single facial expression on her face can say a lot. Although I disliked her character Jules (who, to me, was the slight b*tch of a best friend), Keira Knightley does well in her part. She has a lot of vivacity and it certainly fits in with her part. The supporting cast was also brilliant. Anupam Kher was great as Jess' dad, being strict yet showing a warmness to her daughter at the same time. Shaheen Khan made me laugh out loud for being the typical Indian mother. Juliet Stevenson was also hilarious as Jules' homophobic mother (she is somewhat convinced that her daughter is a lesbian) and Frank Harper was solid as Jules' sensitive, encouraging father. All the supporting cast did well to bring out the film's main characters.

Other than a great screenplay and acting, the film's choice in music was deliberate and flawless. The mixture of modern Indian techno and traditional Indian sitar music, the use of modern Western techno and other Western numbers (such as Curtis Mayfield's Move on Up), further augments the differences between the East and the West and also, the music is certainly great to listen to.

However, the editing was, at times, a bit loose. I felt that some scenes were unnecessary. The lengthy talks between Jess and her coach Joe, although necessary in developing the relationship between the two, got a bit boring and some of the talks between them were too long for my liking. This could have easily been tightened up and this would have quickened the pace of the film.

Despite this minor flaw, Gurinder Chadha has created an absolute gem of a film. It is clear that she has put a lot of heart into this film and the emotions portrayed in this film can really be felt by people in the audience. Her script certainly helps in creating as witty a film as this is, but her vision is lived out through this film. This film is definitely a must-see. It's a great, great film and perhaps, THE sleeper-hit of 2002.

The Region-4 DVD of Bend It Like Beckham can be watched with English Subtitles or with an audio commentary with the film's director and writer, Gurinder Chadha. In addition to this, the DVD contains special features such as the Behind the Scenes featurette, a couple of trailers, a special music video, many deleted scenes and to top it all off, there is a charming "Who Want's to Cook Aloo Gobi?" featurette where Chadha cooks aloo gobi in front of her mother and auntie. If the featurette moves too quickly, the DVD has the recipe written down.

Thanks for reading the review.