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Monday, December 22, 2003
monsoon wedding
 this foreign film has been calling me to watch it and i'm glad i finally managed to see it. this review falls in the "better late than never" category then. and the topic is still revolving around "marriage". :)
an upper middle-class indian family is preparing for the gala wedding of their daughter. as everyone is aware, preparing for a wedding can be an incredibly stressful experience, especially in a country as tradition-heavy as india. so there's a great deal of anxiety for everyone involved in the preparation. they all have their own problems.
- dad is struggling with financial problem; like indians in general, they r willing to spend a lot on his daughter's wedding, even if it means borrowing $.
- the bride and groom haven't met yet and barely know each other (like many marriages in india, it's a traditional arranged married) (the groom is a handsome computer programmer based in houston)
- the bride is having an affair with a married talk show. even at the night before the wedding she's still being led to temptation to meet him. yet she has agreed to marry as she knows she's not getting any younger waiting for her boyfriend to keep his promise to divorce his wife.
- the son of the family likes to dance & watch cooking programs on television, makes his father worry about his sexuality.
other secrets will be revealed as the film progresses, like the uncover fact of pedophilic uncle whose wealth is needed.
the film opens with the busy preparation of the engagement party. guests are coming from australia & usa & the family is very busy in getting things organized, as the floral gate's flowers are falling apart, the eccentric wedding planner is nowhere to be found, family's relative being left behind at the airport, and the bride & groom are gonna meet for the first time.
there's an obvious emphasis on music & dancing in this movie - typical bollywood movies with a mixture of traditional indian song with pop & jazz. the indians like to celebrate, dance & sing. they certainly know how to express their "joie de vivre". here u can see the beauty & the color of a traditional indian wedding. it's a colorful film which celebrates the ritual. indians are very pride about their culture.
the dialogue is mixed in 3 languages : english, as well as the indian dialects hindi & punjabi. there's modern *or should i say "americanized"* influences like cell phones. *indian life style nowadays is very much influenced with western ways - as said once by my indian friend. they are indeed one of the global leaders in high tech & dot-com culture.*
the first clossing credit is read "for my family" - seems to show the director's feeling about her own familial bonds. she must find her family reunion a whole lot of fun. monsoon wedding proves that familly is indeed universal. no matter where on earth u're from, the family problems are just the same. so that the central story is not about the bride & groom, but about the family that is engaged in the wedding. it's about the love of the family which is the foundation for all happiness. and love is present anywehere, anytime, even the wedding planner falls in love with the house maid.
 one of the conversation i like is when the groom is shocked when the bride confesses to him her sin. he said "marriage is a risk, whether u marry someone yr parents arrange for u or u meet him at the club." and then he said that all marriages must be built on honesty, so he thanked her for being honest with him and offered his hand to her & allow her to choose whether to marry him or not... they finally can overcome their problem & start to fall in love each other. => a good lesson that love does not have to be in full blossom before we marry someone but the more important thing is a willingness to accept & love each other... as my father always said : marriage is a decision!
so guys, it would be worth the time to see it if u can.
*monsoon = the season of heavy rain during the summer in hot asian countries*
stelly @ 8:47 AM
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