The first half of this film was really great. The acting good, story good. Then the second half it turned into a different film. This is the trouble with making a film in America you seem to have too many rules to conform to. It went super cheesy. A real shame. A film of two very different halves.
shareI was thinking more 2/3 - 1/3, but yeh, I totally agree.
Also, the whole leaving Max, marrying the other girl and then the affair, was forced and ruined the film. I was half-expecting the film to end with him meeting Max again and realizing what a stupid mistake he'd made, to complete the cliché!
It is a mostly faithful following of the book and the book naturally contains more depth behind the actions of the characters, including the disintegration of Gogol and Maxine and more explanation behind Moushimi's affair.
Unfortunately these are the things that get swept away in the film adaptation.
Do you think Gogol's estrangement from Maxine required further explanation? I didn't.
shareForced?!
You don't seem to have learned a thing about Indian (or for that matter) Asian culture from watching this film.
What was forced about that rift? It was fundamental.
Totally agree, I even posted my own thread about this before reading your post:
http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0433416/board/nest/171261500
This is why I usually like to read the book before I see the movie and I didn't with this one. I was engrossed in this film up until about the last half hour when it just seemed to be trying to find a way to wrap up the story. But overall I enjoyed the film. I found myself more interested in the parents' story than Gogol's, which is perhaps why I enjoyed the first half more. Tabu should have been Oscar nominated for her performance.
shareI don't feel like reading the book. Can anyone explain how in the book why Moushimi cheated on Gogol? Also was the Maxine and Gogol breakup in the movie accurate?
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You honestly have to read the book to get the in depth answers you want. Otherwise, the movie already answers your questions: Moushimi cheated because she felt trapped and unhappy; Maxine and Gogol broke up after he pulled away from her when his father died.
shareSPOILERS FOR BOOK:
Gogol and Maxine also broke up because she had major trust issues, including getting jealous of Gogol's sister. In the end, they both moved on from each other.
Why was Maxine jealous of Gogols sister?
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The previous poster you are replying to isn't really accurate. Yes, Maxine and Gogol broke up because Maxine was becoming jealous of Gogol's new found closeness with his mother and sister. But also because Gogol's character changed profoundly after his father's death; he became more concerned of his family and heritage, and I perceived that he was no longer interested in a relationship with a girl so far removed from his culture and who didn't understand the importance of traditional family life.
shareI found myself more interested in the parents' story than Gogol's, which is perhaps why I enjoyed the first half more.
I agree with you. Looking back their story was more interesting due to the chemistry and seeing how Ashima would cope in her new surroundings. After a while with Gogol's story particularly after his Father's death The Namesake felt like a cliche melodrama.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
I felt that every emotion Gogol showed was deeply true. This is a profoundly wise film that will resonate particularly with E-W hybrids who have already had kids of their own.
shareEven that, although a closer approximation to the truth than some other posts on this thread, doesn't quite capture what transpired in the breakup scene.
shareReal estrangements are often messy affairs. But for dramatic reasons, I think I prefer the more distilled point of rupture highlighted by the film.
shareI wonder if you understand WHY he pulled away.
shareI think Mossoumi was dissatisfied with her life in America. In the book it's as if she thought she had married beneath her. By chance, because a secretary at uni had suddenly died, she got the phone number of an old boyfriend she met when she was 17, and she sought him to have an affair without commitment, rules or expectations.
the book is like the film, being the only different that Gogol/Nikhil has two girlfriends, Ruth and Maxine, before that first date with his future wife.
Find a way to wrap up the story, huh? That depends on what you think the theme of this movie was.
Well?