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My Son the Fanatic[Widescreen] - DVD

SKU: 10576049 | Release Date: 1/25/2000

Rating: R for Sexual Situations, Adult Language, Adult Humor, Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs)

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Rating: R for Sexual Situations, Adult Language, Adult Humor, Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs)
Format: DVD
Theatrical Release: 1997
Length: 87 minutes
Screen Formats: Enhanced Widescreen for 16x9 TV
Genre: General Dramas
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Synopsis

In a small city in the English midlands, a Pakistani immigrant named Parvez (Om Puri) works long hours driving a cab to provide modest comfort for his disapproving wife, Minoo (Gopi Desai), and better opportunities for his collegiate son, Farid (Akbar Kurtha). When Farid breaks off his engagement with the daughter of the city's white police commissioner, drops out of university and joins a cell of Islamic fundamentalists, Parvez must bide his time and hope that his son will come around to his own liberal, assimilationist views. Meanwhile, a monied German entrepreneur named Schitz (Stellan Skarsgard) arrives in town on business and retains Parvez's services as not only driver but navigator of the city's steamy underbelly. Parvez recommends the services of Bettina (Rachel Griffiths), a local hooker with whom he has struck up an unlikely but warm friendship. Schitz's callous treatment of both of his new employees soon, however, sickens Parvez. After his son convinces Parvez to let a visiting holy man move into the family home, the conflicts between Parvez's nocturnal activities and his home life escalate. The screenplay was adapted by Hanif Kureishi from his own short story, which appears in the collection Love in a Blue Time. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Version Details

Sound

Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel/stereo

Languages/Sound

Eng

Screen Formats

Enhanced Widescreen for 16x9 TV

Subtitle Languages

Eng

Additional Features

Dolby Surround Widescreen [1.85:1] enhanced for 16x9 televisions

Chapters

Side #1 --
0. Chapter Selection
1. Opening Credits [6:27]
2. Places to Go [4:38]
3. More Important Things [3:50]
4. She's Good [3:39]
5. The Drug Type [6:32]
6. A New Direction [5:21]
7. A Funny Effect [7:08]
8. Thinking Seriously [6:16]
9. "This Is Him" [3:08]
10. Everywhere Is Immorality [3:36]
11. Something New [5:30]
12. Why You Like Me [3:41]
13. Everybody Says Nothing [4:30]
14. Looking After Things [3:53]
15. Without Tenderness [7:43]
16. Gossip Fools [5:49]
17. End Credits [1:52]

Cast

Om Puri - Parvez
Bhasker Patel - The Maulvi
Harish Patel - Fizzy
Sarah Jane Potts - Madelaine
Akbar Kurtha - Farid
Stellan Skarsg�rd - Schitz
Rachel Griffiths - Bettina
Gopi Desai - Minoo

Crew

Screenwriter: Hanif Kureishi
Sound/Sound Designer: Adrian Rhodes ,Albert Bailey
Costume Designer: Mary-Jane Reyner
Art Director: Sara Kane
First Assistant Director: Nick Laws
Musical Direction/Supervision: Charlie Gillett
Producer: Chris Curling
Cinematographer: Alan Almond
Production Designer: Grenville Horner
Line Producer: Anita Overland
Composer (Music Score): Stephen Warbeck
Director: Udayan Prasad
Casting: Simone Ireland
Art Director: Colin Blaymires
Executive Producer: George Faber
Editor: David Gamble
Casting: Vanessa Pereira

My Son the Fanatic: AMG Review
Brian J. Dillard , AMG

Although it finds a lot of humor in the collision between immigrant and native, liberal and fundamentalist, My Son the Fanatic is actually a bittersweet drama that resists easy resolution of its many well-delineated conflicts. Director Udayan Prasad and cinematographer Alan Almond deftly juggle characters and locales as they explore both the facades and the realities of an average Western city. Om Puri is terrific as Parvez, the Pakistani cab driver whose few pleasures in life include listening to old jazz records and watching his son grow up. Rachel Griffiths is similarly spot-on as Bettina, the prostitute who longs for new experiences and sees more than just a Paki cabbie in Parvez's grizzled but kindly countenance. Akbar Kurtha and Gopi Desai don't get as much screen time, or generate as much sympathy, as Parvez's dutiful wife and fundamentalist son, but even when Hanif Kureishi's script stacks the deck against these characters it never wholly dismisses their viewpoints and motivations; the film may poke fun at the ironies of an anti-capitalist Islamic holy man who watches cartoons, runs up Parvez's utility bills, and wants to immigrate to the "corrupt" United Kingdom, but Schitz (Stellan Skarsgard), the wanton, casually racist German businessman, helps portray the equally ugly extremes of Western liberalism. Fizzy (Harish Patel), Parvez's wealthy but judgmental friend, likewise represents the hypocrisy of immigrants whose loyalties are divided between profit and propriety. Posing more questions than it answers, this multifaceted film explores writer Kureishi's perennial themes with more nuance and depth than any before. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

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My Son the Fanatic[Widescreen] - DVD

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My Son the Fanatic[Widescreen] - DVD

Financing:

Need Help?

Synopsis

Version Details

Cast

Crew

Related Movies

Order Support

Community

Product Support

Credit Cards

Reward Zone® Program

Corporate Info

More Best Buy Sites

Need help? We're available 24/7 at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289)