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Reviews
My Name Is Khan (2010)
An overwhelming and heartbreaking masterpiece
"My name is Khan" was published in 2010 and directed by the famous Bollywood-Director Karan Johar. In this story the main character Rizvan Khan (Shahrukh Khan), who suffers from Aspberger's Syndrome, leaves India after his mother's death and moves to San Francisco, where his brother, who used to be jealous as Rizvan was paid attention to, lives with his wife. He has to handle many new problems there.
Due to his disease Rizvan, a Muslim Indian, cannot see anything of yellow colour because it makes him extremely nervous. Once walking along the yellow zebra crossing in San Francisco he all of a sudden stops in the middle of the street and is afraid. A tram horns in order to make him leave the street. But it scares him even more. That is when the Hindu woman Mandira helps him and says that "it's okay to have fears, but they should not restrain you from reaching your aims." Rizvan falls in love with Mandira and makes every effort to win her love. Mandira's son Sameer likes him a lot and sees him as his father. Although it is scandalous in the Indian culture to marry Hindus when being a Muslim, Rizvan and Mandira marry and move into a house next to the Garricks. They become friends with them. Sameer and Reese Garrick are of the same age and go to the same school. After the 9/11 incident more and more Muslims are discriminated against, robbed, fired and insulted. Sameer is bullied at school but his friend Reese protects him at first. Unfortunately Mr. Garrick dies during his mission in Afghanistan. Now even Reese blames Muslims for everything bad that happens and ignores Sameer. When trying to talk to Reese one day on the football field a couple of teenagers join them. They insult Sameer and start to beat him. When they finally stop they realise that they have killed the boy and run away. Mandira suffers a lot. So does Rizvan, but he actually cannot understand what has happened, why Muslims are discriminated against and beaten. Mandira makes every effort to find the culprit. She remains unsuccessful, which is why she goes to the football field ones again in her desperate situation. Rizvan follows her and tries to calm her but in her anger Mandira shouts at him and tells him to go away. He asks her when to come back. So she answers that he can return, when he achieves to go to the president and tell him that he is a Muslim but not a terrorist. What she did not expect is that Rizvan takes it seriously. He packs his bag and heads for George W. Bush. Because he always repeats his famous sentence "My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist" he has to face many conflicts and problems. On the one hand he sometimes is not even taken seriously but on the other hand people are scared when hearing the word "terrorist". What will happen to him? Will he be able to fulfil his task and talk to the president? Will he see Mandira ever again?
"My name is Khan" is definitely not a typical Bollywood- film as there are no scenes where everyone is singing and dancing. Yet, it is colourful and includes Indian music, mainly used as film music in this case. I am of the opinion that the actors embodied the characters very powerfully. That is why the film was so heartbreaking. Obviously criticism is levelled against the western society and the way they treat Muslims. I would recommend this to everyone who likes to watch serious films that also include some funny parts and love-story sequences. Having watched this, your attitude towards Muslims will surely change. I personally enjoyed watching this film. I had to cry a lot and empathised with the main characters. The way Kajol acted as Mandira and also Shahrukh Khans acting skills were very natural and realistic, which appealed to me a lot.
Salami Aleikum (2009)
A film full of culture and colours
"Salami Aleikum" is a Persian-German Comedy. It was published in 2010. Mohsen a sensitive young man lives in Cologne, Germany with his parents. His father, immigrated from Iran, is a butcher, and wants Mohsen to take over his butchery because his license was taken away by the police. Because Mohsen is afraid of killing animals and always knits his "scarf of life" when he is nervous and scared, he gets to know to a polish fraud who offers him "the most beautiful sheep" for a low price and also slaughtered. Without his father's permission he starts his journey to Poland. Unfortunately on the way there his car does not work properly anymore. He has to stay in a small village in Eastern Germany where many racists live. There he meets the vegetarian Ana, a tall and broad-shouldered young woman. He falls in love with her immediately. In that very moment Mohsen starts becoming entangled in a web of lies...
Similar to Bollywood films, there are several colourful scenes in "Salami Aleikum" where everyone sings and dances and is happy. Even though some funny parts are spoken in the Persian language, non-Iranians can still laugh about the jokes as there are subtitles in those parts. Even the third time I watched the film I still could laugh about the jokes. It is indeed funny to watch Mohsen trying to avoid letting Ana know that he actually is a butcher's son and you surely laugh at the misunderstandings between their parents. This is an ideal film for those who want to watch something different and not only the commonly known comedies full of clichés. I would recommend "Salami Aleikum" especially to Iranians and those who are interested in their culture. Navid Akhavan and Michael Niavarani, a well known Comedian living in Austria, did a great job and acted very powerfully.
Freedom Writers (2007)
A real and heart-touching film!
"Freedom Writers" was published in 2007 and is based on a true story about gang violence and different ethnic groups living in the suburbs of L.A. It is about a young first-time teacher called Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) who wants to teach at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. Since her father participated at the Civil Right's Movement her aim is to make a change. As Wilson High takes part in the voluntary integration programme Erin considers best to work there.
Except for one student everyone in this class has different origins. The teenagers stay together in their ethnic groups, during the lessons and on the school yard, supposing that "it's all 'bout colour". They do not listen to teachers at all. They fight almost every day. To them white people are bad people as they do not respect others but want to be respected. As soon as Erin finds out what their problem is she starts several projects with them such as "the line game" or writing diaries. The more attention she pays to them, the closer the relationship between her and the students becomes. "Miss G." even buys brand new books for them. The headmistress of English is not satisfied at all. In her opinion "these kids" do not deserve any attention at all. But her pupils know that if she has plans "there's nothing to stop her, man". Her class cannot imagine a life without their "crazy English teacher" anymore. As soon as the problems in class seem to be solved and everyone seems satisfied more and more new problems appear all of a sudden which are not that easy to sort out... Will Erin really manage to find a solution this time and reach her aim?
Although sometimes a bit too much of Hollywood-kitsch "Freedom Writers" is a very touching and sad story. Due to the fact that it is based on a true story the whole situation is displayed in a very realistic way. In my opinion the set of actors was the best choice. Everyone was ideal for his or her role and embodied the characters very powerfully. It is definitely different from other Hollywood films as there is no exaggeration, no love story, no action in it. It is all real, it has all happened! So to people who do not want to watch mainstream movies anymore I would recommend "Freedom Writers". After having watched it you will surely have a different attitude towards gang members and ethnic minorities. I personally enjoyed watching it and had tears in my eyes most of the time.