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.

This is a tricky movie to review, it's a little all over the place at times and while occasionally it gets interesting it as often is rather boring.

And that has to do partly with the fact that pretty much everyone except for the victim are disgusting human beings and it focuses more on them than it does the only sympathetic character in the movie, and they aren't that fleshed out characters either to make up for it.

Paddy Considine is all over the poster but for the first hour he merely shows up here and there and it often made me wonder what his characters purpose even was, he ended up serving a purpose in the end though but yeah he's definitely not a lead character for the first hour that's for sure and clearly only on the poster to attract viewers.

I'm conflicted about the movie regarding it's subject, on one hand I do think that it's important to bring up cause honour killings do occur all over the world.

It's just the way it was dealt with that didn't sit right with me, cause they simplified it all and it almost felt like it was suggesting that any Muslim can turn into a vicious killer at any moment because of their pride, and other Muslims accept it which is an idea that the right-wing media is already trying to sell to the world causing racism and this movie will surely not help to prevent that from happening.

Not saying that you should hide away from subjects just for fear of such things but yeah it made it all seem so simple to what is a very complicated issue, it needed to be handled in a much more delicate manner, and perhaps it would have helped if there were any decent people in it beyond the victim to show that not everyone is like this.

Honour deal with the subject of honour killings in sections of the Pakistani Muslim community although prevalent amongst Hindus and Sikhs.

Mona (Aiysha Hart) is a modern young woman who lives with her mother (Harvey Virdi) and two brothers Kasim (Faraz Ayub) who is a police officer and much younger Adel (Shubham Saraf). Her mother is strict and devout, I would probably add a hypocrite as well.

Mona is going out with another Pakistani Muslim Tanvir (Nikesh Patel). However this is not good enough for her family because he is Punjabi or something. So in effect he is Muslim, he is from Pakistan but the wrong region or caste so not good enough for the family and enough to bring shame to them. You see what I meant when I called her mother a hypocrite.

When the rest of the family hear about her plans to marry this they go off the rails. Kasim threatens Tanvir and frightens him off. For bringing shame to the family they attempt to kill her but she escapes and the family hire a bounty hunter (Paddy Considine)to find her. Considine is happy to take money from Asians although we note he is a racist.

Writer/director Shan Khan mixes the time line to heighten the suspense of what is a straightforward thriller. It works to an extent but too often the film becomes a hysterical melodrama with the focus on Karim the foul mouthed cop turned bad guy as he has been too brain washed by his repulsive mother.

There is a scene where his mother tells him that as a policeman, a pillar of the community, with his family's standing, he is an eligible catch and could marry a top Pakistani girl. His sister'r behaviour has put all this at risk.

At least the film highlights the sensitive issue of honour killings but it needs to have placed more explanation to the viewer as to why Tanvir was deemed to be unsuitable for Mona or else the viewer could be left confused.

The film is set in London but there is a glaring scene of a main road in the Isle of Man which I recognised as it was near where I used to live.

"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.