Monsoon Wedding

Rating:
Summary: This shoulda been the Oscar entry!!!!!!!!
Review: All I can say is wow! Indian movie-making keeps getting better and better. The thing love most about this movie is that it is Authentic. Absolutely an authentic and accurate portrayal of 21st Century Urban India. The story itself is basically that of an Indian wedding, and all the crazy stuff that comes along with that, including a few skeletons that come tumbling out. This movie is basically, to quote the director Mira Nair, a tribute to her roots, and as fer me, it is a very accurate portrayal of an upper-middle class North Indian family living in New Delhi. The family shown here reminded me so much of my own it was shocking sometimes(well barring the incest an the extra-marital affair). One of the previous reviewers said something about how there were some of the typical Bollywood songs in this. That's not true. This was no tribute to bollywood. All North Indian weddings consist of a LOT of song and dance, this wasn't just fluff added, this is how it really is. I loved this movie because it smashes those nasty imperialist notions which show India as all misery and suffering. For once, the world get's to see another very real and very prevalent side. Go Mira Nair! Shame that Lagaan was India's entry for the oscars and not this one. (See my review for Lagaan as well)

Rating:
Summary: The kind of film people call a 'feast'.
Review: As the title suggests, 'Monsoon Wedding' contrasts social occasions, and the social units they embody, such as the family, arranged marriages, traditional rituals and the caste system; with those natural forces impervious to boundaries and rules, such as human desire or nature itself. Centring on an elaborate Indian wedding celebrations, with all its rites and family reunioons, the film throws a number of themes into conflict - tradition and modernity; parents and children; community and individual; natives and emigres; arranged marriage and sexual freedom etc. These tensions create, on the surface, an atmosphere of great exuberance and colour, of laughter and friction; but, as in that other explosive family get-together, Thomas Vinterburg's 'The Celebration' (Festen), dark currents eddy beneath, not just 'acceptable' transgressions such as adultery, but child abuse and homophobia. Unlike 'Celebration', however, these traumas and their exorcism are kept firmly in the private family sphere, away from the public celebrations, which paper over the cracks with ritual, marigolds, music and dance - these reconciliations are about as authentic as the mimed singing (although the most memorable moments in the film are the Bollywood-inspired musical sequences, there is an implicit condescension to these movies' artifice in the context of the film's expose-style 'realism').

The script of 'Wedding' is basically a Hollywood-style TV melodrama about a family with demons, tensions and financial worries; its mechanical development and laborious ironies clashing with the brimming energy of Nair's film-making (which sometimes descends into pastiche-Fellini, but mostly focuses on vivid, expository scenes, exploring the relationship between character, community and environment - the use of framing to comment on the action recalls another school of melodrama, that of Sirk et al) and the brilliantly natural acting of the hyper-gorgeous cast. Every character, no matter how minor, is memorably, roundly human, with the exception of the paedophile: this refusal to confront his humanity seems like a cheap Hollywood shortcut, a timid evasion of truly unsettling themes (like those of yet another recent family saga, Solondz's 'Happiness'). But, I suppose, that would have spoiled the party.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars it is!
Review: Whenever I see a movie with Nasiruddin Shah, I am totally captivated by his performance and this movie was no different except for the fact that everyone else performed equally as well. Roshan Seth unfortunately was not given a more elaborate part but one cannot complain about that. The casting was so remarkably complete and the direction flawless - a great getaway from bollywood. Now, to find out who played Umang!

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining but slightly too ambitious
Review: This is set in India and follows the preparations and eventual wedding of an Indian girl to an Indian ex-pat American. The film studies several themes and follows 4 or 5 subplots quite seamlessly. Anyone who's been to an Indian wedding will ratify the authenticity of the atmosphere of the wedding. The accuracy of the 'feel' of being at such a wedding is a delight.
This is an excellent movie, and is very entertaining. The characters are strong and each one is well defined in a short space of time, a credit to the writer and actors.
However I feel that it tries to address a few too many issues, a strangely common failing of Western Indian movies. Why does the writer feel the need to address all the stereotypes and add a few non-stereotypical issues to fashionable value? Deceit, adultery, paedophilia, child abuse, prejudice, fornication, homosexuality, and more.. all too much for 1h45m.
But still excellent entertainment. Viewers from the Indian Sub Continent will obviously enjoy this more as much of the humour is lost in translation, but there is still much to enjoy for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Let it pour!
Review: I saw this movie in London last night and went straight to a record store to buy the sound track because I just couldn't get it out of my head. Unfortunately the cd wasn't available so I'll probably go and see the film again because it was an excellent story with great acting, dancing, humour and serious issues.

Rating:
Summary: What a movie!!
Review: I was in India last week on vacation and had the opportunity of watching this classic film in a theatre on teh first day of its release. I thouroughly enjoyed watching this film. All the characters have performed well in keeping the audience entertained throughout. It is a movie that no one should miss. I would love to watch it again and would also love to keep a DVD too. Whether you are from East or West, you will have no problems understanding the film - the Indian culture, its tradition and whatever that goes along with a family wedding which of course cannot be explained here. A must see for all! It is a family movie. Mira Nair has done a wonderful job in that she has made the movie short and upto the point.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best
Review: one of best movies I have seen

Rating:
Summary: Once is Not Enough...
Review: I rented this movie and enjoyed it so much that I immediately rewound it and watched it again; now THAT'S a first! And it was even better the second time around, as I didn't have to concentrate so hard for fear of missing something.

Cross-cultural/generational and traditional vs. modern themes have always been a favorite of mine, but here these ideas are explored in layered levels, w/ all of their subtle complexities. There is nothing hackneyed in this presentation. There are various subplots weaving throughout, carrying the viewer through many twists and turns at a perfect pace. Observing the wedding planner Dubey (Vijay Raaz) as he falls in love is especially sweet and charming and funny. Yet this film is by no means a frivolous fluff piece. It has its dramatic and unexpected moments, which serve to enrich one's understanding and empathy for the characters involved.

Oh, and did I mention that the music is delightful? Can't wait to get my copy of the soundtrack (it's on order) to play in the car. I'm also eager to view some of Mira Nair's other films, since she certainly did a superb job with "Monsoon Wedding".

Rating:
Summary: The "Other" 1% of Bollywood creations.......
Review: I saw "Monsoon Wedding" a couple of years back in New York's Paris Cinema that had a sophisticated sound system and comfy seating. When the credits rolled, nobody, I repeat, nobody got up to leave. I myself was transfixed to my seat consumed by a lot of emotions!

First, "Salaam Bombay", then this! Expatriate Indian directors like Mira Nair seemingly are aware of the India I personally experienced growing up where children are all too often abused emotionally, psychologically and sadly sexually too - while the rest live in constant denial.

This movie may open up deeply buried painful memories and old wounds that could compel those abused to relive their own trauma of betrayal. However, while some of those affected can move on trusting others, no matter how painful their memories, others are emotionally maimed for life.

See Monsoon Wedding, so that history is not repeated - if we can help it.

Rating:
Summary: Monsoon Wedding - exactly and approximately!
Review: This movie was released in the US around the same time as that 800 lb. gorilla wedding movie - My Big Fat Greek Wedding. While the Greek Wedding went on to make $200+ mil. at the box office, Monsoon Wedding became more of an alt.net movie for the foreign film intelligentsia. However, Monsoon Wedding is by far the deeper, more complex, yet funny, movie. After all, Windex jokes are ha-ha funny for all of 10 seconds.
Having said that, I think Westerners will enjoy this movie as more of a curiosity - unless you're a yoga practicing, namaste saying, Hindustani-phile. But to truly enjoy the family dynamics, the colors, sights, sounds, and of course, the subtle humor of this movie (Y2K dot), I think you have to be of the Sub-Continent variety. Honestly, do you even know the smell of marigold?