Honour

I find it a little ridiculous that a few reviews have based their review on their own religious views, g-h-f from London seemed more interested that they are a Pakinstani from England...what that has got to do with an honest critique beats me. The film shows it how it is, anyone with any real life experience will know this movie has portrayed the subject truthfully, there's no 'disrespect' to any religion or nationality, this movie is accurate and at the same time worrying. About time a director told it like it is and not namby pamby around the subject. It is what it is, unacceptable, awful, cruel and disrespectful to women and indeed to society. More films should tell the truth and be direct rather than try to be PC.

"Two people love each other, why can't people be happy for them? He's Punjabi, Mona. He's Muslim, Adel. Yeah, but that ain't how it works."

Occasionally you watch a movie with a rarely used (or abused) topic. No alien creatures threatening to destroy humanity, not another childish story about a post-apocalyptic world with a youngster as a liberator, not again cheap humor in a silly comedy with overstressed eager beaver, not an average action story with muscled guys or a horror with once again an evil spirit being driven out by using medieval rituals to the place where it came from. "Honour" is about honor killings.

Despite our modern society this ancient use is still applicable in some cultures. Especially in the Muslim communities they sometimes fall back on this custom. Mostly the targeted persons are those who ashamed their family and, believe it or not, these mad acts are justified by certain laws of Islam. In some countries the majority of perpetrators go unpunished like in Pakistan. It's a despicable thought that there are hundreds of women being killed each year because they have violated the family honor. And that's the starting point of this film.

"Honour" is a gray and depressing impression of the beautiful Mona (Aiysha Heart) whose life enters a gruesome cycle of violence after she began an affair with a Punjabi and therefore experiences the wrath of her primal conservative mother (Harvey Virdi). Mona's mother (the similarity with the nasty witch from Hansel and Gretel is striking) and brother Kasim (Faraz Ayub) first try to take the law into their own hands. This goes wrong (in an incomprehensible way) and they hire a bounty hunter (Paddy Considine) to liquidate Mona.

You can call the performances of the actress Aiysha Hart and the other actors commendable. Persuasive and dedicated. A cast that does its utmost to realize a credible and realistic story. Considine plays a sublime character role. You can see the duality in his character evolving. From a cold blooded, racist assassin into a true understanding person who apparently still has a bit of humanity inside him. Despite these superb performances, the film still fails on several points. Apparently Shan Khan couldn't really decide whether it should be a didactic documentary or a thriller. It's not a documentary because the background of the problem is pretty vaguely presented and there's hardly any explanation. For a thriller, there has been as much as no suspense. Also, the storyline was pretty confusing because of the constant use of time jumps and constantly viewing the same situation from a different viewpoint. The whole movie was like a Spaghetti Bolognaise: tasteful with a clew of story lines.

Despite being a low-budget film, "Honour" partly succeeded to convince. It throws some light on a mysterious and incomprehensible to our standards culture, where barbaric practices are still honored. All in all I thought it was a good movie and a must see, if only to conclude that unfortunately such practices are still part of our modern society. And despite the dark atmosphere, this film also shows a gentle side so there remains still a bit of hope. Technically, I thought the executed idea of the film being a loop, not unkind and creative.

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"Honour killings are violent acts of vengeance, committed by male family members against female relatives ..." This is patently untrue. Honor killings do not discriminate by gender. Women simply get the publicity.

But it seems every writer must follow Feminist (gender Marxist) dogma and carry water for "the war on women" screed.

Again and again, bad male culture, poor 'heroic' women victims and the white knights that save them to prove how strong they are.

This inanity keeps cropping up again and again by a whole generation of writers brainwashed since childhood to despise the penis.

I would not call this movie a thriller but a drama. Unfortunately a drama that still happens in these ages. The barbaric beliefs of people still living like in the middle ages. Whatever somebody wants to do with his life is his or her choice and nobody should interfere in that life as long as the person doesn't harm anybody. I thought the movie was well made with good actors that made the story believable. For me as a convinced atheist it is painful to watch that in the twenty-first century there are still people who act like that. I hate every religion or sect and I think we can only have a better future if all religions were to be abolished. I know this will never happen and that's too bad but if at least every believer of whatever religion would just get on with his own life and leave all the rest in peace then maybe we would get somewhere. From all the religions there are Islam is by far the most retarded of them all. It looks like they didn't evolve in time. Anyways, I thought the movie was interesting to watch even though it made me mad. Certainly worth a watch.

The film addresses the insanity of extremists who are so spiritually void that they believe it is okay to kill a member of their own family if that member wishes to choose their own lover, specifically a lover whom is out of favor with the said extremists. This kind of death-wish upon another is plain nuts and has no place what-so-ever on our planet or in the universe.

Anyone who considers honour killing an acceptable way to behave needs re-education in the ways of logic and compassion.

Crimes of passion will likely always happen, and happen across a variety of cultures worldwide. But when it happens, the appropriate penalties must be applied. It is a shame that in some counties it is tolerated by local authorities, this is the problem.

It is a murderous and sub-human practice. If severe punishment were dispensed to the imbeciles who order these murders, worldwide, then more children will learn the right way.

They will learn that love should not be restricted by race or religion.