Monsoon Wedding

3.30.02

Monsoon Wedding is a colorful and visually appealing film about a well-off Indian family coming together for the wedding of a daughter.

The event encompasses a number of story-lines in an organic and slightly diffuse way. The bride has decided to enter into an arranged marriage, but still feels the pull of a passionate and difficult affair she had with an older, married man.

The bride's unmarried cousin, a woman in her twenties, must decide whether to preserve the family status-quo or reveal a painful secret.

The wedding planner, an unctuous and slightly coarse bachelor, falls in love with the servant girl in the bride's home.

Other members of the family attempt to fit in with their Punjabi relatives after spending years living in the West.

A feast of color provides the backdrop for the wedding and the various conflicts that take place within and between different members of the family.

These conflicts often contain more than a little humor, although some of the jokes seem too goofy for the sophisticated themes expressed elsewhere.

The scenes of family members singing and dancing together feel home-video real, subtly exposing the complexity of life in a close-knit family.

Monsoon Wedding takes an indirect approach to the stories it tells. The plotlines take turns on center stage, giving the film an unclear sense of direction.

The success or failure of this approach depends largely on the viewer. Some find it engrossing; others, boring. The dialogue can also take time to get used to, as the characters slip easily in and out of English, Punjabi, and Hindi (Punjabi and Hindi dialogue is subtitled in English).

This Wedding is the medium in which members of the family confront major life choices.

In the tight embrace of the reunited family, the struggles between Western values and Eastern traditions, individuality and a centuries-old social structure are waged. And in the wonderful world of the big screen, these struggles find their resolution.

Personal musings:

Wilderness: Dreams of living in the wild persist and change.

All grown up: At 12 I looked like I was 20, at 24 I looked 15.

Altruism: Can you ever repay the kindness of a stranger?

Photos in a box: A package from my brother turned my memories of childhood upside down.

Short story long: How to lengthen a narrative in a few easy steps.

Writing: Going the distance to find things to write about.

Neighbors: An amazing account of urban generosity.

Snacking: The angst of a healthy diet.

Thoughts on spiritual matters:

Subway preachers: Transcendence on the Red Line.

Thoughts in the Kingdom: How do you keep your mind in heaven and your heart in the world?

After September 11: Response to an attack on a mosque in Bridgeview, Ill., on September 12.