Review of Monsoon Wedding (2001) by Wesley R — 02 Mar 2011

A fascinating look into the Indian culture surrounding weddings. There are multiple stories of love that weave in and out throughout the film and all of them are equally compelling. I haven't really seen arranged marriages portrayed in a positive light, so it was nice to see one here with the message that it doesn't really matter how you meet someone but that you truly love them. Most of the film has an exuberant tone that makes you wish you could join in on the festivities; however, there are two subplots that are surprisingly serious and handled in a way that makes the film feel awkward or uncomfortable in parts.

The first subplot involves the father of the bride's disapproval of his son's feminine characteristics and interests in life. We're not told if the son is gay, but that really doesn't matter since his father just wants him to act more manly and is even willing to send him to boarding school to achieve this goal. There really didn't seem to be enough time given to this storyline for it to make any real impact on the film and in fact remains completely unresolved by the end of the film. The other subplot deals with a family member who is a pedophile and in the past has molested his niece. Throughout the film we occasionally see him giving attention to the niece's younger sister and the niece trying to keep her away from him. This storyline isn't badly written at all, but makes it hard to enjoy the joyful parts of the film when you realize a child predator is on the loose. Both these subplots are interesting, but seem to exist solely to provide conflict to a film that has very little of it.