Fox Searchlight The Namesake DVD

Good movie.

This movie was truly more moving than I anticipated. The Namesake is about a young man by the name of Gogol and his struggle between his given Indian culture and the American culture that he was raised in. His parents Ashoke and Ashima are from West Bengal, India. His parents settled in New York and shortly after gave birth to him. Gogol was originally his nickname which eventually becomes his permanent name and the movie will chronicle the significance of his name.The movie shows how Gogol battles to conform to his American life while his parents try to remain true to their Indian heritage. Being that Gogol’s friends are mostly white American kids, he adapts behaviors that his parents detest. He is lazy, disrespectful and smokes marijuana. After a trip to India with his parents, he seems to understand and appreciate his culture a little more.Gogol goes off to college and after graduating he lands a job as an architect. He also decides to change his name to Nikhil and begins dating a white woman named Maxine from a wealthy family. He spends less time with his parents and they began to feel that their son is ashamed of where he comes from. As Gogol falls in love with Maxine, he decides to introduce her to his parents and their insecurities are confirmed as they fail to understand their son’s American customs. Gogol in fact grows closer to Maxine’s family and enjoys being around them more.As Gogol is vacationing with Maxine’s family, he ignores calls from his parents as they attempt to wish him a happy birthday. While enjoying his time away, his father suffers a massive heart attack and passes away. After this he totally changes. Suddenly, he morphs into the man that his parents wanted him to be. He is open and accepting of his culture and realizes that he no longer wants to be with Maxine. He continues to support his family and take his father’s place as a male figure amongst his mother and sister. In the movie there are several instances where culture is referenced which is closely related to religion. For instance, you will see the figures of the Hindu deities at the wedding of Ashoke and Ashima. That is one significant thing that I remember regarding religion in this movie. I ‘ve always assumed that Hindu followers are strong and devoted to their belief. Their devotion makes them strong and very proud. I see all these qualities in Ashoke and Ashima and they strongly believed in raising their children to be the same way.

Abe SwickThe NamesakePlot Summary: The movie opens when Ashoke is younger and he is traveling on a train. While reading a book by Nikolai Gogol, the train crashes, and he is the sole survivor. The set changes to Ashoke meeting Ashima for the first time. They have an arranged marriage and move to New York from India. They start a family and name their first child Gogol, and their second is Sonia. They change Gogol’s name to Nikhil but he wants to be called Gogol still. He starts hating his name in high school when he learns about who Nikolai Gogol was. When Gogol graduates, their family takes a trip to India. When they move back home, Gogol tells his parents that he wants to change his name to Nikolai, which upsets his father. He starts going by Nick, and dates a Caucasian girl named Maxine. Gogol’s father, Ashoke, tells him why he was named Gogol, and how it traces back to the train wreck when he was going to visit his grandfather. While away on business, Ashoke dies of a heart attack and Gogol has to identify the body. The family travels to India for the ceremony and scatters Ashoke’s ashes in the Ganges. Ashima tells Gogol to make up with Maxine, but he ends up going on a blind date and falling in love with a girl he had met once before. They get married, but on their first anniversary, they have a big argument. Meanwhile, Ashima decides to move back to India and spend six months of every year in America. Gogol’s wife has an affair, so she and Gogol go their separate ways. When Ashima sells the house, Gogol finds the book by Nikolai Gogol that his father had given him on his graduation day, and he decides to travel the world. Sonia has found the love of her life, and Ashima moves back to India to continue singing.How it relates to World Religions: I noticed several connections to Hinduism, but also some that I am not sure if it is Indian culture, or the religion of Hinduism. At the very beginning of the movie, they are singing and worshipping a deity. I also saw many deities shown throughout the movie. The culture in India is obviously different. When Ashima and Ashoke meet, neither one of them looks at the other, and Ashima looks at the ground for the majority of her poem recitation. When the family is in India, I saw an ascetic roaming the streets. When Gogol goes to see his parents, he has to tell his girlfriend no kissing or touching because that is not appropriate in his culture. When Ashoke dies, Ashima wipes away her Bindi and Gogol shaves his head. During Ashoke’s funeral-type ceremony, Gogol reminds me of a Brahmin. The last and biggest connection to Hinduism was the final Deity I saw. I believe it was Saraswati because of the instrument she was holding.

Bought after reading the book  The Namesake  I was looking forward to a treat. If you haven't read the book I think you might find it quite hard to understand, so many of the important moments in the book which give it structure are passed by in a flash. The first third of the film almost seems to be a foreign language movie so rarely do they speak English, with no subtitles, so it creates a beautiful and special atmosphere but leaves one out rather unless you already know what is going on. I kept telling myself, that was when...There is a mystical, wistful quality to the film with much photography of bridges, buildings and colourful ceremonies both in Bengal and New York. The love scenes are perfect, utterly believable, between his parents and the son with his American and later Bengali partner. Interestingly Gogol doesn't get it all his own way. He was a difficult and angry young man who rebuffed his gentle loving father and found him irrelevant for a while. He was almost repulsive in his teenage persona, the actor was made to look younger and even ugly which was clever. His rude behaviour was stereotype - absolutely normal of course. I lent it to my daughter who said "nothing happens" which it does seem to be the case unless you know what is going on in depth or are Bengali. Then you would recognise all of the angst, tradition, and life stages. It eventually warms up and the story becomes more of Ashima than Gogol, she steals the show - the ending is hers completely. The Namesake

I'm keeping this review short.This movie cuts to the heart of the experience of being a part of an Asian immigrant family with kids born anytime between the 70s and 90s... the modification of one's own identity in order to 'fit in' to society, followed by the necessary balance one must achieve in order to be happy. It follows 30 years of a family's life - from the introduction of the young parents to be in Kolkata, through the childhood and adulthood of their two children.Jhumpa Lahiri who wrote the novel, also wrote the award winning 'The Interpreter of Maladies.' This movie is smart and poignant and I guarantee that any Western Asian will recognise their own life experience in this film. For anyone who has any kind of relationship with a Western Asian, be it friendship, work colleague, or anything more, this film will help you to understand their experience and perhaps why they may indeed be the way that they are.

The movie "The Namesake" has moved me deeply. The story of this Bengali family that step-by-step enters the "New World" is told with impressive images. The inner conflict between their Indian identity and their daily life in the USA is expressed with scenes showing the family following Bengali rituals in the USA and their children in conflicts with their American classmates on the one hand and conflicts with the Bengali family in India on the other hand. A scene in which they all appear as tourists in the Tajmahal shows that they feel rather like visitors than natives in India as well.Calcutta and New York are shown as contrasting places and the family becomes more and more like a bridge between those distant places. The perspectives change throughout the movie. A focus is certainly on Gogol and his father, but the mother's perspective, her memories of India, her feelings when her marriage was arranged and her first impressions of her new life  The NamesakeThe Overcoat (Dover Thrift) are also focussed on.The name of the movie "The Namesake" refers to the intermedial reference that alludes the family's son "Gogol" to the Russian author of the novella "The Overcoat" which was read by his father in a crucial situation in his life. The NamesakeThe Overcoat (Dover Thrift)

I watched this movie, when I was in my teens. The motion picture sound track of this movie, really called out to me. Watching the film again, later, older and the story of the film, called out to me more.The film has a good cast, Tabu and Irfan Khan (famous bollywood actors, whom make good couples and have starred in many other films together, like Life of Pi.)This film concentrates on the family, the name and what the parents do for this children. Children, not understanding what and why the parents do it. Starting fresh, leaving home, self respect.

We loved this film.