My Son the Fanatic

Starring:Om Puri, Rachel Griffiths, Akbar Kurtha, Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd, Gopi Desai, Harish Patel, Sarah-Jane Potts, Judi Jones, Geoffrey Bateman, Bernard Wrigley, Moya Brady, Badi Uzzaman, Andy Devine (II), Shiv Grewal, Omar Salimi, Bhasker Patel, Dev Sagoo, Rowena King, Olwen May, Alison Burrows
Director: Udayan Prasad
Studio: Miramax
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Most generation gaps focus on conservative parents and radical kids, but My Son the Fanatic depicts the opposite: taxi driver Parvez (Om Puri) can't understand why his son has turned to Muslim fundamentalism, calling the Western world of their corner of London corrupt and driven by sex. Meanwhile, Parvez finds himself working for a hedonistic German businessman (Stellan Skarsgård from Breaking the Waves and Good Will Hunting) who has more or less hired a prostitute named Bettina (Rachel Griffiths from Hilary and Jackie and Children of the Revolution), with whom Parvez has become friends. As Parvez's wife also turns towards fundamental ways, and a Muslim holy man comes to live in their house, Parvez turns more and more to Bettina for solace. Their friendship turns more intimate, bringing the family conflict to a head. This could be little more than a midlife crisis fantasy, but My Son the Fanatic thickens its story with cultural details and well-developed characters. The performances are rich and affecting; Om Puri is charming and sympathetic, and makes Parvez's moral conflicts genuine and understandable. Though Bettina, as a hooker with a heart of gold, is a bit of a stereotype, Griffiths's integrity as an actress makes the character compelling. An affecting film that doesn't provide easy answers to the difficult questions it explores. Written by Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid). --Bret Fetzer

Description

Academy Award(R)-nominee Rachel Griffiths (HILARY AND JACKIE, MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING) stars in a critically acclaimed story of unlikely love set against a clash of cultures and generations! Parvez is a cab driver who left Pakistan in search of a better life for his family. Now he feels that he is losing his only son, Farid, to the conversative beliefs he abandoned long ago. Meanwhile, Parvez befriends a compassionate woman (Griffiths) and finds the comfort, support, and tenderness he does not have with his own family. When the disapproving Farid discovers this relationship, however, an uncomfortable situation boils over as Parvez is forced to choose between the son he adores ... and the woman who understands him!

Customer Reviews:

A Fine Little Film That Is Particularly Important Today!.......2007-03-12

MY SON THE FANATIC is a small scale film made in 1998 about the problems of cross culture assimilation between Pakistanis and the British - or rather between Muslim and Christian - that packs a powerful punch in the understanding of current clashes similar to the film's story that are so keenly in focus today. Based on a short story by Hanif Kureishi (who also adapted the story to a screenplay) and directed by the highly respected Udayan Prasad, this film is blessed with a fine cast of actors who make some of the more improbable aspects quite warmly credible.

Parvez (the always fine Om Puri) slept through his Muslim education in Pakistan and moved to England with his wife Minoo (Gopi Desai) where he has been a taxi cab driver for 25 years while his co-immigrants such as his best friend Fizzy (Harish Patel) have become rich entrepreneurs. Parvez and Minoo have a young son Farid (Akbar Kurtha) who is a bit unsettled as a Pakistani adjusting to life in capitalistic England and has found a girlfriend Madeline (Sarah-Jane Potts) who happens to be the daughter of the Chief Police Inspector Fingerhut (Geoffrey Bateman). Despite the fact that Parvez and his wife would prefer Farid marry a Pakistani girl they consent to an engagement party, a turning point for the politically tenuous Farid. When Farid observes how the Fingerhut family snubs his Pakistani parents and background he explodes and instead joins a fundamentalist Muslim group, pledging his life to stamping out porn, drugs, evil, etc.

Parvez attempts reconciliation with his wildly fanatical son but the only person with whom he can communicate is a hooker named Bettina/Sandra (Rachel Griffiths) who has a heart of gold and is only in the Profession to make enough money to become a teacher. Parvez is a driver for a pimp service and he is assigned to escort a wealthy smarmy German Schitz (Stellan Skarsgård) through a series of encounters, encounters that involve Bettina among others. But along the way Bettina softens to Parvez, listens to his anguish about his son, and eventually becomes Parvez' paramour. When Farid's fundamentalist group is attacking the brothel where Bettina works he discovers his father's situation and is enraged: Parvez, Farid and Minoo must come to an understanding - and it is this manner of coping that provides a very touching ending to the film.

The story holds its own as a movie, but the underlying content is pungent, intelligent, perceptive, insightful and very cogent. Each member of the cast is excellent but Om Puri proves once again that he can carry a film with a questionable character strongly on his shoulders. Not only is this a fine little comedy drama to watch, it also provides some serious food for thought. Grady Harp, March 07

I hate this movie!!.......2006-04-26

Hello, i m Y-Paul, and i hate this movie, because it is so, it go me on the nerves!!

Yes, you like it, but i dont!!

Its my opinion!!!1908123745?

mfG y-Paul

My Son the Future Suicide Bomber?.......2005-08-01

Parvez was born in Pakistan and moved to London some twenty five years earlier. He has mostly assimilated into his new cultural milieu and considers religion to be a secondary aspect of his overall identity. So much so, our central character has become something of a part time pimp along with being a full time cab driver. Parvez's son Farid is a young man who is gravitating towards radical Islamism. Great Britain's secular society appalls him. The family seems doomed to be severely damaged by this conversion. Even Parvez's wife is joining the fundamentalists. He is so distraught that he seeks comfort from the prostitute, Bettina. Parvez's whole life is unraveling. Is there any hope?

I've read a number of the reviews of My Son the Fanatic and none of them highlight Farid's terrorist activities. He and his fellow Islamic ruffians even throw a molotov cocktail through the window of a whore house and don't hesitate to physically attack women deemed slutty. Nor did the reviewers refer to the young man's blatant anti-Semitism. At the very most, they pointed out his alienation and hatred of modern allegedly decadent Western Civilization. In many respects, the reviews seemed to suggest that Farid is no more threatening than the existentially troubled hippies of the 1960s. What accounts for such naiveté in 1997? Political correctness? One can easily imagine Farid eventually becoming a nihilistic suicide bomber. Yes, I strongly advise you to see this film. It should help you more clearly comprehend the motivations of the Islamic fascists within our midst. My Son the Fanatic was a warning we should have heeded.

Father and Son.......2004-05-11

Somewhat similar to movies like "Bend It Like Beckam" or "East is East", "My Son the Fanatic" is an interesting effort that wisely approaches subjects like the generational gap, the clash of cultures, family ties and social disorder. Presenting a credible and realistic atmosphere with solid acting (Om Puri is particularly great), compelling characters, witty dialogue, a good plot and a fine mix between drama and comedy, this cinematic experience doesn`t quite reach classic status but manages to deliver a strong and convincing movie. The pacing is a bit uneven, though, and some more comedy-oriented moments wouldn`t hurt. Still, a good flick nonetheless.

Recommended.

A TRUE MARVEL WITH COMPLEX BUT REAL CHARACTERS.......2003-06-08

Made in 1997 (ps: pre-911) it is remarkable how a movie so simple in its narrative, and so in the shadow of critical cinema, could depict such smack-dab nuances of eastern immigrants at odds with a western setting or how the cultural assimilation of trans-national immigrants doesn't always look like a rainbow colored day at the beach.

But despite that seemingly ho-hum central tack, there are many conflicts studied very poignantly -- modern versus mediaeval, father versus son, fidelity versus emotional satisfaction, ethnic conservatism (ok, fanaticism) versus open minded cosmopolitanism, Good House Husband versus Bad Man Who Befriends Prostitutes, Decent Living Taxi Driver versus Someone Who Became Filthy Rich...and each is sublte yet hard-hitting in its simplicity.

Without giving away too much about the plot, there is no ordinary character in the movie, certainly no ordinary Muslim. The father (Parvez, played wonderfully by Om Puri) is a cabbie who flirts about in a relationship with a streetside floozy whom he finds more uplifting (no pun intended) than his standpat wife back home who disapproves of his free-wheeling ways and even finds his interests in jazz "too trumpety". The other Muslim, the son, is at loggerheads with his peers in throes of non-acceptance and instead gets inveigled into Islamic fundamentalism as an escape. This contrast is very, very credible, real and amusing.

Particularly noteworthy are Udayan's idiosynchratic implications about what constitutes "right" or "wrong" character. Parvez's prostitute girlfriend has a loving heart, a sharp mind and a vivacious presence despite her ostracization from the Good People Club. The son and his other right-wing Islamic acolyte buddies come off as annoyingly childish in a thoughtless "promiscuity" of their own.

For instance, they invite a Pakistani Maulvi to sermonize/"guide", and a hilarious TRUE moment pops up when the Maulvi requests the non-approving father for some help with his immigration into England.

Another VERY, VERY quiet 5 second scene that leaves an indelible impact is the depiction of male chauvinism dominating orthodox Islam where Parvez's wife is huddled in the kitchen for dinner, behind a closed door, and refuses to come out to dine with the men of the house in fear of doing something "inappropriate" in the presence of the supposed Maulvi.

The movie has many light-hearted moments and the cinematography is unexpectedly stunning. All this emotional, moral tussle between father, son, wife, romantic interest etc leads to a denouement that is hardly a resolution of sorts but is deeply moving. Everyone makes a choice (and I found the choice of Parvez's wife particularly startling) in favor of freedom from personal and social shackles. Made me think for days and recommend this movie to everyone I care about.

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