Bend It Like Beckham (2003)

If you asked me what my favorite movie was without hesitation I would tell you it's this one. Sure I am a tad biased towards it as I am a female who loves soccer more than anything AND support Manchester United, BUT... even if you aren't I can almost guarantee you'll like this movie.I've watched Bend It Like Beckham more times than I can remember and I only find myself writing this review because I'm procrastinating writing my essay on belonging in which this movie is my related text. I was hesitant to analyze and pick apart my favorite movie at first but I have found my love for the movie only deepened as i went. No only is this movie funny and a perfect family movie to watch but it carries so many important messages about racism, gender equality, society and religious expectations, sexuality, sportsmanship, relationships and many many more (including belonging). Sure it had it's flaws (I couldn't flaw it but i know many people can and that's understandable) but for a small budget movie, I personally think it is amazing. and would HIGHLY recommend!!!

If you are looking for a film next weekend, then be sure to see "Bend it like Beckham". I've not seen a lot of films in my life but this one is a very special one. "Bend it like Beckham", directed by Gurinde Chadha in 2002, deals with culture problems, soccer, friendship and love. The film is set in London. The story is very interesting and engrossing. An Indian family has a soccer-playing daughter, named Jesminder, who wants to play football professionally like her idol Beckham, but she gets many problems. One day Jesminder plays football in the Hounslow Park with her friends. A girl, whose name is Jules, watches her for a few minutes. She is fascinated by Jess' skills. She walks over to the group, introduces herself and invites Jess to a trial at the Hounslow Harrier. This dialogue invites their upcoming friendship. At Jess' first trial she is very nervous. Before she runs over to the coach Joe and Jules, she watches the training for some time. Jess is so fascinated how the girl play football. Joe looks skeptical and asks her which position she usually plays. Then she starts her warm-up and begins to play together with the team. After the training Joe is convinced and Jess gets a chance to play football professionally. A few days later she meets her friends in the park,she comes from her football training. Suddenly Mrs Bhamra, her mother, sees her while she is running around with half-naked boys. Her mom takes her at home. At home Jesminder and her parents have a discussion. Mr and Mrs Bhamra don't want this shame on her family. Jesminder should learn full Punjabi dinner, meat and vegetarian, and she should behave like a proper women. Her parents forbid Jesminder to play football. Also the think that they have enough problems with her sister Pinky, who wants to marry in the next weeks. Jesminder is sad and doesn't know what she could do, because she doesn't want to giver her dream up. Therefore she decides to play football secretly. But later she has to make a choice between football and tradition, because the weeding from her sister is at same day as a important football match. This match offers her the chance to get a scholarship. Will Jess go to the important game or is it the end of her dream to become a star like Beckham. But to find out how the film ends you have to view it yourself. In addition all the cinematic devices used in this film serve a function and achieve their intended effect, for example the situation in the living-room when Jess' parents talk to her. The high-angle shot presents the inferiority of Jess. It shows that Jess is desperate,sad and shy. The medium shot of her allows the viewer to see the situation from the position of the parents. On the other hand you can see that Mr and Mrs Bhamra are superior. The low-angle shot of them presents their fury and their disappointment. The music at the end underlines the bad situation. All this cinematic devices presents the situation from Jessminder's position. This scene is very important for the film, because the culture problems and the problems with her family begin. To sum up it is a very interesting, exited and easy understanding film. If I were ask to rate this film on a Scala from zero to ten, I would give it 8 points.

In a fair world, this wouldn't have had to be an indie movie. When I think about indie movies that got popular, I think about films like Juno, quirky and unusual films that came out at just the right time to strike a deep, fundamental chord with a mainstream audience. This film is not like that. It's a simple, straightforward story of two girls who love to play soccer.Then again, it is fortunate that this is an indie movie. Mainstream execs would have ruined this film. They are good at one thing: selling films to as big an audience as possible. That is not a crime, and saying it is their job, I have a hard time condemning them for doing it. But mainstream appeal comes at a cost: the soul of the film. Now I'm not saying big blockbusters cannot have a soul, but trying to convert a smaller film into a big blockbuster can drain it of what made it special in the first place.This film certainly is special. It's not spectacular- this is no MMFR or Godfather or Princess Mononoke- but it lifts itself above and beyond its genre contemporaries. The craft is excellent, from the cinematography to the use of music, and the writing is surprisingly spot-on.It is also impressively earnest. Many films of this genre have that studio sheen and professional smugness to them, as if they know they are exploiting their viewers for profit's sake. The quality of the films suffers for it. Typically, the people who write and direct these films are a generation or two older than their characters. If they care enough to put some effort into the film, this is either undetectable or inoffensive, but if they do not, things can get ugly real fast.This would have posed even more of a problem in this film's case. One of its two main characters is Indian. Studio execs have enough trouble handling foreign cultures in dramatic contexts. In comedic contexts, they are completely lost. This, along with racism and slavish devotion to traditional ideas of money-making, is one of three ways why they stay away from these sorts of movies entirely, and while that is heartbreaking and I'd love to see it change, I can't say it's comforting to see a big studio movie bumbling its way through a culture it does not understand. The end product is usually either bland and boring or, worse, stupid and insensitive.Thankfully, studio execs were not involved, and the filmmakers, who understand exactly what they're doing, handle their topics deftly and smoothly. This is not an esoteric film. You don't need a deep understanding of India, Britain, or Sikhism to like or understand this movie. But the filmmakers' knowledge informs on it heavily. They don't have to reach or shoot blindly into the dark. They know their playbook, they know what they're dealing with.This film is their baby. They put an unusual amount of effort into it. While not every sequence works, there is an air of grandeur and passion to the all thing. This is not to be confused with an air of pretension: this very much is a romantic comedy through and through. The filmmakers simply care about fleshing out their story and characters, making the experience interesting and thoughtful instead of half-baked and slapped together.The relationship between the two girls is stellar. Friendships are not often done well in films, but the playful, affirming chemistry between them is just great. While it does fall into clichés and contrivances, including a limp love triangle, its energy and fluidity and strength more than makes up for that. The way most hacks write friendships, it's a wonder they had friends at all- maybe they didn't. This film gets its two main characters and the relationships between them.If there is a villain in this film, it is binding, restrictive beliefs. The cultures these beliefs erupt from are not bad, but the beliefs themselves are, particularly when they stand in the way of dreams and hopes. More than soccer, this is a film about culture and how it defines groups of people. Jess' sister wants to have a nice Indian wedding and start a family, and that's fine. Jess wants to go to America and play soccer, and that's also fine. In an era in which so many are scared of losing their culture, this film shows that cultures are at their strongest when they interact with other cultures, swapping ideas and thoughts, helping everyone get the lives they want and strive for.

if you want British Indian comedy then bend it like Beckham is the one you should watch. At first I found this film rather boring but I as grow older I found it rather enjoyable to watch. its great film for the whole family to watch. Soccer is a great sport as I used to play soccer myself but now I have retired from soccer now and now I am study at college to do acting. The acting in this is very well done having mixture of British Indian and Chinese and many more this film. Making it very multi cultural film which I really like. overall another great film to watch over and over again this movie is very good in my book wroth watching 9/10