O Relutante Fundamentalista

This movie challenged my views of American policy. I thought that it was definitely written with an Indian audience as the demographic it would do best in. We had an opportunity to listen to the Director (Mira Nair) speak about this and her other movies. She told us "This movie is intended to start a conversation", and that it does. If you are a Hollywood / blockbuster fan you probably will not enjoy this as much. If you are open- minded, watch film for more than just entertainment, and like Bollywood / Indian film, this is for you. I think that just as 20 years ago film depicting disability, or sexuality was far less popular such is true about a film that illustrates a point of view that's not that of a gun toting American.

This beautiful movie is about how the new era of fear is dividing East and West, featuring UK-based writer Mohsim Hamid's critically acclaimed book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, about the impact of Sept 11th on Muslims living abroad post 9/11 attacks & its psychological and political damage. It's a tale of mixed loyalties and one man's journey into the heart of the conflict.

Hamid has published a novel about the aftermath of September 11th. It's based on a character whose life mirrors his own accomplishments, but whose subsequent journey and fate is very different. The book is entitled "The Reluctant Fundamentalist".

The main character, Chengez, is living in New York at the time of the attacks. The new western hostility towards his country, to his people, and to an ancient and complex civilization shocks Chengez, to the core. He feels as though he has to take sides. Then, quite simply, he has a crackup, followed by a mysterious journey back to Pakistan that may or may not lead to the embrace of fundamentalism.

At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter . . .

Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he works at the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore.

But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. The romance is negligible; Erica is emotionally unavailable, endlessly grieving the death of her lifelong friend and boyfriend, Chris. And Changez's own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.

Told in a single monologue, the narrative never flags. Changez is by turn's naive, sinister, unctuous, mildly threatening, overbearing, insulting, angry, resentful, and sad.

Changez is in Manila on 9/11 and sees the towers come down on TV. He tells the American, "...I smiled. Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased... I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees..." When he returns to New York, there is a palpable change in attitudes toward him, starting right at immigration. His name and his face render him suspect.

He exorcises that feeling and once again appreciates his home for its "unmistakable personality and idiosyncratic charm." While at home, he lets his beard grow. Advised to shave it, even by his mother, he refuses.

His company sends him to Istanbul for another business valuation; his mind filled with the troubles in Pakistan and the U.S. involvement with India that keeps the pressure on. Beautiful screenplay and great Urdu- English blend of dialogues makes it really worth a watch on the big screen.

Four years after I read the impressive novel by Mohsin Hamid, I went to see the film which is based on the book. I wondered how a novel, which is essentially one long monologue by an educated Pakistani called Changez Khan with no other voices whatsoever, would be turned into a big screen offering but reckoned that, if they could do it for such complex works as "Life Of Pi" and "Cloud Atlas", it could work for Hamid's subtle narrative. So it proved.

The 'conversation' in Lahore has been effectively opened out with shooting not just in Pakistan and India but the United States and Turkey, while very effective use is made of music, starting with a dramatic opening scene. The essential clash of cultures, via a confrontation between the reluctant fundamentalist (played by Riz Admed) and the ambiguous American Bobby (Liev Schreiber), is retained, but the film is less opaque than the book, with it being (eventually) much clearer where the two main protagonists stand in the 'war on terror'.

Although the political messages are signposted more simplistically in the film than in the novel, this is still a work that challenges preconceptions about the capitalist West and the religious East and ultimately about ends versus means and good versus evil. Considerable credit should go to Indian director Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding" - another culture-conflict movie) and, as well as the excellent main roles, there is strong support in minor roles filled by Kiefer Sutherland and Kate Hudson. Although the turning point for Changez is the attack on the Twin Towers, subsequent events in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere have only served to underline the need for a better understanding of what motivates fundamentalism and how best it should be opposed.

So do see "Zero Dark Thirty" (which I thought was excellent), but also take the trouble to find the much less high profile film "The Reluctant Fundamentalist". At one point in the movie, Changez is asked by an American official: "How do you feel about the United States of America?" It is not a simple question. This film does not offer a simple answer.

Treading on both American and Islamic ideals this somewhat daring dive into the deep and disturbing Psychology and Ideology of the current clash of Cultures is not an easy thing to get across in a Movie. Maybe in a Book, but even that has its limitations to "listen carefully to the whole story, not just bits and pieces".

A Movie, by Nature is bits and pieces put together in a narrative that needs to tell a Story quickly, smoothly, and has not much time for Debate and in depth analysis. But it can do some Justice to the Subject Matter even if it is complex and Politically charged.

It is a beautifully Photographed Film and is Artistically quite impressive as it paints a Portrait of a successful Corporate Number Cruncher who has little time to feel for the Lives of those affected by His Downsizing Data. But as things unfold, this Stranger in a Strange Land, of Pakistani Origin, but Princeton Educated, finds that just being a Foreigner from the Middle East post 9-11, He is about to be brought down to size, for nothing more than His place of Origin.

It is a complex Scenario of changing perspectives, coping and becoming more than a Superficial player of High Finance or High Religious Dogma. He chooses not to be influenced or persuaded by the Fundamentalism of Corporate or Religious Thugs. He is more than that and so is this Movie as it attempts to put a Face on those that are usually viewed as Faceless.

The aftermath of 9/11 is an ongoing process: For Americans, the hardening of the heart and the strengthening of its defenses is a given; for a Pakistani like Changez (Riz Ahmed) his love of America is challenged in his professional and personal life. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, adapted from the Moshin Hamid novel, is a cultural deconstruction of values, beliefs, and patriotism framed in a formulaic thriller.

The character arc for Changez extends relentlessly throughout the film. Changez's "change" is the heart of the film, and director Mira Nair doesn't disappoint as she exposes the fraying nerves underlying both commerce and politics in these volatile times.

Nair is weak only in having a thesis to prove, most notably that when family, profession, and nationalism collide in parlous times, few will emerge unscathed but all will fiercely protect their own values. For instance, while Changez, the son of a Pakistani poet, achieves the American Dream as a business analyst for a prominent financial advisory company, aka corporate morticians (see Romney's Bain), that success wears on this young man with a fundamental belief in fairness. As a professor, he teaches "the importance of fundamentals." The abduction of a fellow academic seriously challenges his allegiances.

Nair, maybe too obviously, parallels the corporate turmoil with his love of SoHo artist Erica (Kate Hudson) and his love of his country. Add those competing life elements to aggressive American security (Changez's encounter with the TSA should chill any of us who travel and wonder what it would be like to be targeted), and you have a young man changing by the minute.

If for nothing else, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a story about fundamental beliefs, none more glaringly different than the West and Islam. The action, framed by a story of journalist Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber) interviewing Changez about the hostage situation, becomes multileveled and allegorical, ending in more of a thriller with a banal surprise than a thoughtful treatise on the complicated nature of modern foreign affairs.

As we did for Argo, forget the hokey ending and enjoy the clash of cultures. It's worth the trip.