Other than Asian cinema, I don’t watch a lot of what you might call a “foreign” film.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down and watch the Fox Searchlight release of The Namesake on DVD, but what I found was a wonderful and moving film.

The Namesake follows an Indian family over a period of about four decades, starting in Calcutta and moving to New York.  The story begins with a traditional Indian man, Ashoke, who moves to America for a better life, but returns home to marry the woman who has been arranged to be his wife by their parents.  It seems an unlikely pairing- he is a quiet, bookish engineer, she a young woman whose singing voice is as beautiful as she is to behold.  They marry, and young Ashima is taken back to America by her new husband.  Away from the hustle and bustle of Calcutta and the constant company of her family, she finds herself away from anything she knows, and very alone.

Ashima adjusts, getting to know other Bengali families, and in time, she and Ashoke have children of their own.  Gogol, their son, is a young man torn between his American world and the more traditional one of his parents.  After losing his father, Gogol embraces his Bengali heritage, leaving the affluent white girl he has been with for years, and eventually marrying a girl who is Indian by heritage, but very western in her lifestyle- an arrangement he eventually finds far less than fulfilling.

I was impressed by the visual scope of the film, the life and color of Calcutta set against the cold sterility of New York representing the loneliness of new life, and the score works perfectly with the visuals.  The acting is just as impressive, especially by Kal Penn, who plays Gogol.  You have seen him in movies like Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj, but in The Namesake, Penn proves is capable of more than just comedic bits in second rate films.  He plays the moody, confused, young man perfectly, and hopefully, his skills will be put to good use in the future.

Indian or not, The Namesake is a film everyone who enjoys a good dramatic film will enjoy.  Check out the DVD the next time you hit Blockbuster, you won’t be disappointed.

-Ed-