The Coming of Age Immigrant Story?

"The West has "On the Road" and these Kerouac-type finding-yourself stories, and this is our coming-of-age story, in terms of that young man today."

- Mira Nair

By 'our' she means all immigrants to the West.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist film, based on Mohsin Hamid's page-turner reportedly took five years to make, the biggest block being funding. They got let down a few times. Not surprising as it is a very risky tale to tell. But echoing the words of the film: it's important to listen to the whole story and not to judge before you've heard it all. Good advice to incorporate into all parts of our lives!

I saw it with a friend who afterwards claimed he'd never seen a film before that spoke to his personal story. It's probably also Mohsin Hamid's story- he worked at McKinsey after all. I wonder whether he experienced the tussle between company valuations and his personal ethics? And it seems to have been the personal story of the lead, actor Riz Ahmed as well, he who is practically on screen throughout the entire film.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist highlights the global trajectory after 9/11: the event which changed everything. In the UK so did 7/7. Following both events many men of Asian and Middle-Eastern origin were questioned or arrested without proper grounds. This resulted in some feeling their own countries did not accept them. 

Nair says it's good timing for the film to come out now: the awe that Ahmed's character, Changez, voices in response to the attack on the Twin Towers could not have been publicly voiced even five years ago. Well, except in the book. 

Before you bristle at the earlier paragraph, refer to Changez's explanation at the end of the film that we are all more complex than being for or against a single idea. His 'we' includes the American journalist he's speaking to, who was initially against US foreign intervention. So please, he continues, don't put us in a box and label us. A belief does not necessarily shape everything we are. It's a plea many of us are making - for our layered selves to be understood. Most of all by ourselves. And a realisation that our ideas do evolve.

One really nice addition in the film script is Changez's American girlfriend Erica's art exhibition opening night- a world which Nair understands. I met her at the opening of Lille 3000, where she unveiled her own powerful artwork: lenticular photographs on bus hoardings around the city.

I was surprised to see that in the UK only some multiplexes are showing the film, and not the independents which I would expect. It is noticeably absent even at the Curzon, an arthouse chain.

This is one of the few films which actually tells the story more powerfully than the book. The narrative mechanism (and monologue) really lends itself to an audio-visual medium. The atmosphere and imagery that is built up has rarely been surpassed. And the story, well, this story has rarely been told.