Director:
Gurinder Chadha
Written by: Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, Guljit Bindra
Produced by: Deepak Nayar, Gurinder Chadha
Cast: Parminder K. Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
The
Story
A smash-hit in the UK, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is the third feature from
award-winning writer/director Gurinder Chadha (BHAJI ON THE BEACH, WHAT’S
COOKING?). The film premiered at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, won
the audience vote for best film at the Sydney Film Festival and the
Prix du Public audience award at the Locarno Film Festival. The Toronto
International Film Festival marks BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM’s North
American premiere.
A
kaleidoscope of color and culture clash humorously as an Indian family
in London tries to raise their soccer-playing daughter in a traditional
way. Unlike tarty elder sister, Pinky, who is preparing for an Indian
wedding and a lifetime of cooking the perfect chapatti, Jess’ dream
is to play soccer professionally like her hero David Beckham. Wholeheartedly
against Jess’ unorthodox ambition, her parents eventually reveal
that their reservations have more to do with protecting her than with
holding her back. When Jess is forced to make a choice between tradition
and her beloved sport, her family must decide whether to let her chase
her dream...and a soccer ball.
Activities
for E.O.I. students
1st and 2nd levels:
This
a summary (resumen) of the plot (argumento) of the film. Read it and
insert the words at the bottom in the spaces.
Like
__(1)__ football-mad teenagers, 18-year-__(2)__ Jess daydreams about
playing beside David Beckham and helping England __(3)__ the World Cup.The
fact that she is just a girl is only one of her troubles. Jess is also
the __(4)__ of Sikh immigrants, and the last thing her parents want
is to see her daughter running in __(5)__ in front of men.
Jess
begins her double life because she goes to __(6)__ for an all-girls'
team without her __(7)__ knowing. She also becomes friends with an English
girl __(8)__ Jules and stars liking an Irish coach called Joe.
To
make everything more difficult, __(9)__ new dream is to play professionally
in America - because, ironically, in Britain there isn't __(10)__ professional
women's league.
ANY
OLD CALLED PARENTS DAUGHTER PLAY HER SHORTS MANY WIN
3rd,
4th and 5th levels:
Read
the review of the film and organise the paragraphs in order by writing
numbers in the spaces on the left. After you have done that, indicate
the strengths of the film according to the critic.
.___.
But mostly, Chadha keeps the ball rolling because she cares for her
characters and she makes us care for them, too. In this, she is helped
by her likeable leads. Actresses Parminder K. Nagra and Keira Knightley
have good chemistry as girls who bond despite their cultural differences.
For hormonal girls, there's fine-boned Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
as the impossibly good-looking football coach.
.___.
For comic cultural contrasts, director Gurinder Chadha tosses in such
characters as Jules' bra-selling bimbo mother, whose idea of curing
her daughter's football fever is to say: 'There's a reason Sporty Spice
is the only one of them without a fella.'
.___.
It may not be the World Cup but Bend It Like Beckham is a rowdy, rousing
stadium-pleaser in its own way.
.___.
Like many football-mad teenagers, 18-year-old Jess daydreams about playing
beside David Beckham and helping England win the World Cup.
.___.
So begins her double life as she sneaks off to play for an all-girls'
team, becomes friends with an English lass called Jules and falls for
a dreamboat Irish coach called Joe.
.___.
That she is just a girl is the least of her troubles. She is also the
daughter of Sikh immigrants, and the last thing her parents want is
for her to be running about in shorts and baring her legs in front of
men.
.___.
The competing elements of football romp, British Indian comedy and teen
romance mean that Bend It Like Beckham is not as well-paced as it would
like to be, and it becomes a bit weak in some scenes. For example, the
too-long subplot about the on-off wedding of Jess' man-mad sister Pinky
causes the movie to lose some of its momentum.
.___.
To top it off, her new dream is to play professionally in America -
because, ironically, a country as football-crazy as Britain has no professional
women's league.
