MovieChat Forums > The Namesake (2007) Discussion > It could have been amazing

It could have been amazing

posted 14 years ago by oase
3 replies | jump to latest

I didn't read the book, only watched the movie, that's all I can comment on.

I was totally sucked into the movie up until the father's death and the dissing of Maxine. I thought all that was an amazing buildup and that I was going to be blown away by the second part of the movie. I am neither Indian, nor an immigrant, not even an American, but still I felt like I could really really dig what the movie was trying to tell me and that those were really powerful performances and very believable characters.

Then it kinda fell to pieces. Despite some good moments, there were a lot of weak / questionable scenes. But what really turned me off was (what I saw as) a very weak motivation for the name Gogol. Yeah Ashoke was reading a book by Gogol at the time of the accident. So what? Did the book physically save his life in some way? Did it have some philosophical symbolism that somehow helped him rebuild his life? I saw neither of these in the movie. As far as I saw, it was just a book. He may as well have been reading a Reader's Digest. Or a sports column in a newspaper. Or he may as well have named his son after the brand of shoes he was wearing at the time - they were just as meaningful as the book. Did I miss something? Do I have to read Gogol's Undercoat myself to "get it"?

[–] astromuse24 14 years ago

If I remember correctly, in the book (and actually it's implied in the movie) Nikolai Gogol's book saved Ashoke's life in the train accident. Were it not for the white, reflecting pages flapping in the wind while being clutched in his moving hand, the rescuers would not have taken notice of him. He felt he owed his life to Gogol's book. So yeah, it kind of did physically save his life. If Reader's Digest was in his hand and had saved him, he might have named his kid after the author of the article he'd been reading.

[–] Sofianna 14 years ago

Precisely. That much was clear from the film, I thought. I've not read the book yet.

[–] ohenrypsalm-1 13 years ago

I think it's also important to note that the parents had not deliberated on the name. Choosing "Gogol" was an impulse which initially wasn't going to last past a couple of years. If they thought they would be choosing his permanent name, I'm not sure that "Gogol" would've been their final choice. As such, I don't think it's surprising at all that they decided on it.

My interpretation is that it's only much later that Ashoke fully appreciated the significance of his decision and of Gogol's work in his life.