Yasmin

I've just finished watching Kenneth Glenaan's film YASMIN (starring Archie Panjabi). I cannot begin to describe what a deep impression it has made on me - it says all and more that I have felt about the way the British government have behaved since 9/11. This is the blurb from the back of the DVD case:

Yasmin is a spirited woman whose life has become a precarious balancing act as she attempts both to please her traditional Pakistani family and enjoy the freedoms of Western life. Having rebelled against her family as a teenager, Yasmin yields to the demands of her widowed father and agrees to marry a cousin 'from home'. The omens are not good when the goat-herder from a Pakistani village meets the vivacious, Westernised Yasmin.

After the shocking events of 9/11, Yasmin's life begins to change; her innate sense of confidence starts to evaporate and she becomes increasingly ostracised at work. Yasmin is only jolted out of her crisis of identity when she witnesses a brutal internment of her husband under the draconian rules of the Anti-terrorism Act. The injustice of this event forces Yasmin to re-evaluate her faith, her culture and her relationships. The scene is set for a compelling and topical personal drama of what it means to be Asian, Muslim and British in the 21st century.

Unlike so many films centred around the Asian community, the arranged marriage part does not dominate the film. Instead, it gives a moving and balanced view of life before and after 9/11 for the Muslim community in a town in the North of England. It uses several central characters to portray the different reactions to the events, and does it in the most fluid and natural way possible.

This film should be widely distributed, especially in view of the Home Secretary’s recent proposal for legislation allowing suspected terrorists to be placed under house arrest (see my comments two postings ago). It certainly provides food for thought.