Monsoon Wedding (****)
review by Jon Waterman

Aditi (played by Vasundhara Das) is supposed to get married to a man she barely knows.  She’s still pining for her ex-boyfriend and dreads what will happen if she tells her groom the truth.  Meanwhile the rest of the large family struggles with their own problems just getting the wedding organized and ready on time.
 
This film mesmerized me from the start and grasped me tighter and tighter as the minutes passed.  Although much credit is due to Director Mira Nair, praise needs to be spread over the entire crew.  The taut editing (Allyson C. Johnson) leaves little room to be bored and spends just enough time with each storyline to avoid being cumbersome.  The cinematography (Declan Quinn) is crisp, vibrant, playful (when necessary), and beautiful.
 
If there is fault to be found, it would be within the acting.  The least believable was the young boy, Varun (Ishaan Nair), who always sounded like cue cards were placed directly off-screen.  For the most part, the bi-lingual cast proved themselves worthy.  Most impressive being the father of the bride, Lalit (Naseeruddin Shah), and the older, unmarried cousin Ria (Shefali Shetty).  Both showed a wide range of emotions and even when they were at their worst, allowed the audience to sympathize with their reasoning.
 
Now, let’s talk about the script (Sabrina Dhawan).  This is what makes this film so great.  The film is treated as an ensemble piece, because the interest lies within the whole family and all the exploits going on around the house.  The characters all have distinct personalities.  We see no clear stereotypes and even if we think we do, we’re proven wrong later in the movie.  Virtually every person that speaks has a clear purpose in the main narrative.  Not only that, but they have something interesting and important to say.  The result of all this equals a movie filled with characters you genuinely care about.
 
What impressed me most was that no background knowledge is required to watch this film.  I know very little about life in India and even less about their wedding ceremonies.  However, never was there a point where the film made me feel stupid, nor did I not know what was going on.  The amazing part is that the American audience wasn’t spoon fed this information.  Everything was presented at face value, but still made perfect sense.  It takes talent to pull that off.
 
“Monsoon Wedding” brilliantly explores the worlds of love, lust and family.  The happiness and the sadness mixed with a little bit of anger and resentment all blend together to form an intriguing woven tale of this significant moment in a couple’s life.  I loved this movie (my spell checker didn’t).

respond to jon@filmbrats.com