Gurinder Chadha seems to go from strength to strength with every movie she directs."I'm British But... succinctly portrayed Asian life in contemporary Britain, while Bhaji On The Beach took the subject into the feature film; With Bend It Like Beckham she goes one step further, effectively mixing social realism with comedy and romance to equate an entertaining feature with a sharp script and great acting (Rhys-Meyers and Parminder Nagra are surefire bets for future Hollywood stardom).
One thing to commend "...Beckham" on is that, in spite of its generic constraints (typical love story, narrative of underdog comes good against the odds, etc), it is as accurate a portrayal of modern Britain, or at least London, as mainstream cinema is ever likely to give us. The soulless terraced houses of Hounslow (ever a familiar sight to this Brunel alumni) or the acknowledgment that (shock, horror) ethnic minorities live in Britain are a stark but welcome contrast to white-washed bogus like Notting Hill or Bridget Jones's Diary.
It would be interesting to see what Chadha will do with a more adventurous genre, because stylistically she's certainly more Lucas than Loach (and that's a compliment).
One thing to commend "...Beckham" on is that, in spite of its generic constraints (typical love story, narrative of underdog comes good against the odds, etc), it is as accurate a portrayal of modern Britain, or at least London, as mainstream cinema is ever likely to give us. The soulless terraced houses of Hounslow (ever a familiar sight to this Brunel alumni) or the acknowledgment that (shock, horror) ethnic minorities live in Britain are a stark but welcome contrast to white-washed bogus like Notting Hill or Bridget Jones's Diary.
It would be interesting to see what Chadha will do with a more adventurous genre, because stylistically she's certainly more Lucas than Loach (and that's a compliment).