(VIDEO) "My Son The Fanatic" (10/10)

[Brock Landers]

*SPOILERS*

"My Son The Fanatic" A Vdayan Prasad Film

I cannot say enough good things about this film. I am not Indian. I do not live in England. I do not have anything in common with the lead (Om Puri ["Gandhi", "East Is East", "The Ghost In The Darkness", "Wolf", "Such A Long Journey"], except that I am a man who has struggled with deciding between personal fulfillment and family sacrifice. This is a beautiful story of a man who has given everything to his family, sacrificing every dime that he makes as a taxi driver to provide for his wife, son and wife's family back home, in another country. His only personal pleasure is listening to old blues albums and drinking bourbon in his basement. His wife is always on him about the fact that his best friend, who he used to loan money to, is now the successful owner of a fancy restuarant and that he has wasted his life grinding out a living as a taxi driver. His weather-beaten face shows it all, the depth, the dignity and the pride he feels to be able to take care of everything, his family, etc...that is until things become to come apart. His son wants to fit in with others of his race so he begins to chastise his old ways through his religious fanaticism and his wife disapproves of his chastising his son. The only thing that takes Om Puri's mind off of his problems at home is being on the road, in the taxi, and a young lady who has become a friend of sorts, problem is, she is a prostitute...

Om Puri is spellbinding to watch, there is so much character in his face that he doesn't have to open his mouth to say something. Rachel Griffiths as the prostitute is warm and giving, a bit lonely, mixed up and confused...but definitely "the hooker with the heart of gold". Stellan Skarsgard ("Good Will Hunting", "Insomnia") puts in a great supporting performance as a hedonistic playboy who uses everyone around him. Also stars Akbar Kurtha, Gopi Desai and Harish Patel.

This film left me feeling great afterwards and everytime I watch it the pieces of the story become tighter and tighter, fitting together perfectly.

[SirReel]

I don't know Brock - I think you're giving this film WAY too much credit... I mean, it was good, but not as great as you paint it to be.

I'm going from memory, as I saw it damn near a year ago (when it first hit the video store) and I distinctly remember thinking to myself afterward, "seen better, seen worse."

The main character is a good man and I liked his sensibilities through every scene, but I felt the balance of the characters to be too simple - and the story lines too much.

I give it 6/10 tops.

[Brock Landers]

I think the reason I liked it so much was that it said something to me personally when I first saw it in the theaters, then when I bought it...another film that made an impact on my life in many ways was "American Beauty"...I guess some people just identify with some films more than others...

[SirReel]

I'm readin' your mail word for word pal. I feel the same way about so many of the movies I own - it's unreal. "American Beauty" is an easy hallmark of the male mid-life crisis, try explain one man's affinity toward a movie like "The Spitfire Grill"... I feel as though I've been schooled every time I watch this film - it's a favorite of mine, we have a relationship.

[Brock Landers]

I believe that films that REALLY interest me have either:

a) been at a turning point in my life

-or-

b) been a story of a man struggling with a turning point in his life

...films like "My Name Is Joe", "Leaving Las Vegas", "Dream With The Fishes", etc...make me see that others are struggling as well...and depressing or not, there is hope out there.

I love films about self-exploration, you know, where they test their own personal boundaries and in a way "My Son The Fanatic" does just that. We have a good man who feels wrong for doing what is right. We also have a man who is struggling for his soul, and trying to identify who he is...is he a family man?...or does he want to be truly loved by a soulmate?...a man who must decide his priorities before he can move on. His son and familial problems are just side effects of the greater problem, his own personal struggle with himself. We search within for answer which are not always there. In fact, more often than not there is no 100% correct answer to anything we do in life...we just have to make the best of what cards we are dealt ("Croupier")...

Films have helped me answer some of the toughest questions I have ever had to face. I mean I know that they are just films but a good film can be so much more...

[JoBlo]

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