The Namesake

Went to a screening of new film The Namesake last night. It's based on the novel by Jhumpa Lairi. The narrative follows an Indian couple in Calcutta and NYC over 25 years. The production notes describe the film like this: “It encompasses, in a deep humane way, the tale of millions of us who have left one home for another, who have known what it is to combine the old ways with the new world, who have left the shadows of our parents to find ourselves for the first time.” Everyone brings their personal experiences into the theatre & that affects how you view films. I related to this story very much and found it to be really intense and quite moving. I don’t think I’ve cried this much watching a movie since I saw E.T. in elementary school. From an executional standpoint, the cinematography is really beautiful and the acting is wonderful. Director is Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding). After the movie, she and the two lead adult actors spoke about the making of the film and answered audience questions. I always love stuff like that. Film opens in NYC, LA and San Fran tomorrow, and hopefully it will roll out to other cities soon.