Ae Fond Kiss Film - Movie Review Example

Ae Fond Kiss follows the love story of Casim Khan and Roisin Hanlon. Casim, the only son of a Muslim Pakistani couple living for decades in Glasgow, falls for the Caucasian and Irish Catholic Roisin who teaches music in a Catholic school. The two met when Casim was to pick up her sister Tahara who had been bullied by schoolmates because she is different from all the others. Their scrambling ends up in the music room where the commotion caused a guitar to break. Casim pursues Roisin and invites her to a club where he DJs. Unknown to Roisin, Casim had been set to marry his first cousin Jasmine in nine weeks. Torn between his family and his love for a ‘goree,’ Casim has to make a choice that involves his family, their opposing religions and polar upbringing. The varying virtues of the Western world and Eastern cultures in this film highlight what it means to have religion dividing a couple. Central to Ken Loach’s film is the reality of the difficulty of entering into a mix relationship. The characters are not only from opposite backgrounds but they are dedicated to their respective religions from birth. Casim, as a Muslim man of Pakistani descent is expected to marry a Muslim woman and have children with her who they will raise up to be pious Muslims. Early in the film, the relationship amongst Muslim families was shown to be an important aspect of any good marriage in their community. His sister Rukhsana’s search for a suitable husband was a task that entailed the help of her family. This had been the same in how Casim obtained a fiancée. They were expected not only to marry well but to marry within the comforts of the family. Casim had an arranged marriage with someone he barely knows. But as a matter of tradition and respect, his parents are the ones to decide for him and he was to adhere to their decision. The aspect of freedom is a main point that showed the distinction between Eastern and Western cultures. The Khans, especially the family’s father Tariq, expects all his children to abide by his orders. To recompense the hard work and the sacrifices that their father had to endure for them, they must obey his words unconditionally. The concept of being a good son or daughter is an imperative for the family. Casim sees himself as a good son that he does not want to sever his bonds with them completely. His mother’s presence was a constant reminder of how tight-knit they are as a family. Their mother was also an key figure who never talked in English throughout the movie. It was also by no means a coincidence that despite his age, Casim had remained to live with his parents. In fact, his father’s pet project was to build an extension of the house where Casim and his future wife would live. Ideally, he was to remain in their presence together with his future family. On the last part of the movie, his father tried to show to him how great the house turned out to be to convince him to return. Tariq made sure that it was a place where he and Jasmine could settle in. When he refused to go through with the marriage, his father shattered the windows out of anger and their connection along with it. This awareness of being torn between cultures and religion was more apparent with Tahara who was a teenage girl raised in a Western culture but conflicted with her parents’ imposition of their heritage. In the beginning of the film she declares, “I’m a Glaswegian Muslim woman of Pakistani descent who supports Glasgow Rangers in a Catholic school” (Ae Fond Kiss). The number of contradictions in this statement shows how conflict could easily arise out of her situation. She also states that their parents have been in Scotland for four decades but they remain 100% Pakistani. Being Muslim in a foreign land is definitely a challenge. This puts into question why she had to be enrolled in a Catholic school which in no doubt could only make things worse if other kids turn out to be not accepting, as such was the case in this film. Tahara has definitely become Western in her way of thinking and the importance that she gives to independence because of her surroundings. This was something that her parents could not deny and it was a factor that was also a source of disagreement in the family. She insists on going to Edinburgh University instead of enrolling in a local college that her father questions her motivation, “Education or to stay away from home?” (Ae Fond Kiss). Throughout the confrontation, her brother stays silent. Tahara calls him out and says he is a hypocrite because he keeps his relationship with Roisin a secret. On contrast, Roisin represents the very Western values that are contrasting with the Khans. She used to be married but has separated from her husband because she says there was no love between them only friendship. Casim questions what is so wrong about companionship since this is often the case for Muslim marriages. Roisin claims she needs “A wee twinkle in the eye. If that’s not there, I’d rather be on my own” (Ae Fond Kiss). The need to marry someone out of love and not out of matrimonial compatibility is a fairly Western concept. The ideas of romance and love should be the main consideration for getting involved with someone. But while these notions are bona fide and appropriate, the question still remains on until when does love subsist. This was a question that was posted by Rukhsana and challenges Roisin’s ability to stay with Casim despite the travesty that it could cause to his family and their stature in the community. The unspeakable effect that their union caused was evident on both sides. Casim was disowned by his family and the reputation of his family as good Muslims in the community was affected. Even Rukhsana’s marriage was shaken because of what Casim did. Their place in the community was something that was important to his father. The equivalent of tithing, zakat in Islam, was observed by his father to the very last cent. He goes to the mosque religiously in his proper garment as shown when Casim drove him there. Hammid tells him, “You’ve got a mosque right there… As far as they’re concern she’s a goree, a white girl. That’s it, she’s not Muslim” (Ae Fond Kiss). The relationship was equally straining on Roisin who lost her job because of it. Teaching in a Catholic school, she was expected to maintain a strict rule of Catholic decorum that had to be implemented by priests. When she approaches the parish priest to get a certificate of approval, he tells her, “You think you can get into bed with any Tom, Dick and Mohammed” (Ae Fond Kiss). It was also a problem that she remains married to her former husband. The priest encouraged her to get an annulment and to think of taking a vow that she and Casim will raise their children catholic in case they get into a mixed marriage. He also pushes the idea that the man she is living with has to convert. Ultimately, he disapproves her request and later on she had to transfer to a non-denominational school. Casim’s only solution to their problem was to live in a low key where they keep from ever publicly declaring their relationship. But this was not an option to Roisin who does not want to lie to anyone. Casim calls her self-indulgent since the liberties that she maintains in her life are not virtues that they display in his culture. For him, it was better to keep the status quo with him and his family even if it meant keeping their relationship in secret so that he does not have to give up his family. This meant pretending they are not a couple and perhaps subjecting Roisin to duck in the car every time he sees someone from their community so that they would avoid a scandal. Maintaining a mixed relationship where each has a different religion is difficult. But having two historically opposing religions is even more daunting. Catholicism and Islam have a number of distinctions but they also have a number of parallels. For one, both religions has the concept of paradise that one must work for in earth to be worthy of it. Conflicts such as those depicted in Ae Fond Kiss are real and they are challenging. But without working through it, then nothing could ever change. For tolerance to flourish there must be those who are willing to risk it all and be willing to endure because they have noble reasons. Work Cited Ae Fond Kiss. Dir. Ken Loach. Perf. Atta Yaqub, and Eva Birthistle. Bianca Film, 2004. Film. Read More