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#166 - The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Mira Nair, 2012
A Pakistan-born Muslim moves to America intending to become a successful businessman but finds his loyalties conflicted by the September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror.
I read Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist a few years back and remember being impressed by its unorthodox take on the War on Terror, especially through the viewpoint of a Pakistani Muslim. I had heard mixed things about the film but still felt that I needed to see this. From the very beginning it's clear that a lot of things have been added or changed in order to make for a more superficially compelling narrative - namely, the augmentation of the framing story where the titular character (Riz Ahmed) tells his life story to an American journalist (Liev Schreiber). While the book only implied that the journalist was more than he claimed to be, the film starts off by fleshing him out considerably and making him part of an undercover operation to flush out Islamic radicals following the kidnapping of an American foreign national. While it does seem to provide a rationale behind the framing story, in doing so it sacrifices the novel's ambiguity for a more conventional resolution that does undercut the rest of the film somewhat. At least the central story focusing on Ahmed's transition stayed true enough to the book (at least what I can remember - it has been a few years, after all).
Ahmed makes for a great protagonist who believably conveys his character's inner sense of turmoil even without the aid of narration as he is torn between his original desire to become a productive, upstanding member of Western society and his growing sympathy for those who are undeservingly victimised by the War on Terror. Other characters serve as further complications for him, such as his stern but loving parents (Om Puri and Shabana Azmi) or his demanding yet affable boss (Kiefer Sutherland) both pulling him towards one side or the other. The main issue is his relationship with an aspiring artist (Kate Hudson), whose own narrative also diverges radically from that of her literary counterpart, but Hudson isn't quite good enough to sell either the old or the new facets of her character (especially the new ones, which are seriously jarring). The direction is competent and the juggling of both the past and present narratives is handled reasonably well, even if the latter is a bit more conventional than this film really deserves. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a decent enough film for the most part and the tale of Ahmed's tragic hero being forced into a difficult situation is a fascinating one. Unfortunately, the expansion of the novel's framing story (to say nothing of other significant changes) ends up dragging things down just enough to stop me considering this a genuinely good film. Even if it is supposed to keep the film interesting as Ahmed's character tells his story, it does take a morally grey narrative and make it a little more black-and-white (but fortunately not enough to completely ruin the film).
Mira Nair, 2012
A Pakistan-born Muslim moves to America intending to become a successful businessman but finds his loyalties conflicted by the September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror.
I read Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist a few years back and remember being impressed by its unorthodox take on the War on Terror, especially through the viewpoint of a Pakistani Muslim. I had heard mixed things about the film but still felt that I needed to see this. From the very beginning it's clear that a lot of things have been added or changed in order to make for a more superficially compelling narrative - namely, the augmentation of the framing story where the titular character (Riz Ahmed) tells his life story to an American journalist (Liev Schreiber). While the book only implied that the journalist was more than he claimed to be, the film starts off by fleshing him out considerably and making him part of an undercover operation to flush out Islamic radicals following the kidnapping of an American foreign national. While it does seem to provide a rationale behind the framing story, in doing so it sacrifices the novel's ambiguity for a more conventional resolution that does undercut the rest of the film somewhat. At least the central story focusing on Ahmed's transition stayed true enough to the book (at least what I can remember - it has been a few years, after all).
Ahmed makes for a great protagonist who believably conveys his character's inner sense of turmoil even without the aid of narration as he is torn between his original desire to become a productive, upstanding member of Western society and his growing sympathy for those who are undeservingly victimised by the War on Terror. Other characters serve as further complications for him, such as his stern but loving parents (Om Puri and Shabana Azmi) or his demanding yet affable boss (Kiefer Sutherland) both pulling him towards one side or the other. The main issue is his relationship with an aspiring artist (Kate Hudson), whose own narrative also diverges radically from that of her literary counterpart, but Hudson isn't quite good enough to sell either the old or the new facets of her character (especially the new ones, which are seriously jarring). The direction is competent and the juggling of both the past and present narratives is handled reasonably well, even if the latter is a bit more conventional than this film really deserves. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a decent enough film for the most part and the tale of Ahmed's tragic hero being forced into a difficult situation is a fascinating one. Unfortunately, the expansion of the novel's framing story (to say nothing of other significant changes) ends up dragging things down just enough to stop me considering this a genuinely good film. Even if it is supposed to keep the film interesting as Ahmed's character tells his story, it does take a morally grey narrative and make it a little more black-and-white (but fortunately not enough to completely ruin the film).