Poking fun at suicide bombers, UK cinema-style
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
NOTHING, it seems, is off limits to British comedy, with two films that poke fun at Muslims, Jews and, perhaps most controversially, suicide bombers.
"Four Lions," which received mixed reviews when it premiered at the Sundance film festival earlier this year, hits cinemas on May 7 and satirizes a group of hapless Muslims who decide to blow themselves, and others up at the London Marathon.
Given the similarities to the real-life attacks on the city's transport system in 2005 that killed 52 people, some reviewers found the comedy an uncomfortable viewing.
"The Infidel," which opened yesterday, follows Muslim family man Mahmud Nasir, played by comedian Omid Djalili, who discovers he was in fact born a Jew.
In a light-hearted, low-budget movie, Mahmud strives to learn more about his real roots from an alcoholic Jewish cabbie called Lenny while at the same time trying to impress his son's prospective father-in-law who is a firebrand Muslim preacher.
Writer David Baddiel, a British television personality, seeks to expose prejudices in both communities by making fun of them, but believes that comparisons between "The Infidel" and "Four Lions" are not fair.
"I think there's a slight weirdness in them being lumped together. People are going to lump them together because they are about religion, and particularly Muslims, but one of the key things about my film is that it's not about suicide bombers."
Baddiel argues that by focusing on a normal protagonist -- a "relaxed" Muslim who swears and enjoys the odd drink -- his film is more radical by not trying to shock or offend.
"I'm interested in trying to talk about subjects in a comic way that I feel people are too frightened to talk about, but I'm not interested in what I feel is a slightly more adolescent project which is desperately trying to offend," he said.
Chris Morris, who wrote and directed "Four Lions", said recently that his new film, and much of his previous work, is only considered controversial because the media decides to call it that. He embarked on "Four Lions" "as a reaction to the war of words around the whole issue of terrorism and conflicting ideologies," he told the Times.
"Four Lions," which received mixed reviews when it premiered at the Sundance film festival earlier this year, hits cinemas on May 7 and satirizes a group of hapless Muslims who decide to blow themselves, and others up at the London Marathon.
Given the similarities to the real-life attacks on the city's transport system in 2005 that killed 52 people, some reviewers found the comedy an uncomfortable viewing.
"The Infidel," which opened yesterday, follows Muslim family man Mahmud Nasir, played by comedian Omid Djalili, who discovers he was in fact born a Jew.
In a light-hearted, low-budget movie, Mahmud strives to learn more about his real roots from an alcoholic Jewish cabbie called Lenny while at the same time trying to impress his son's prospective father-in-law who is a firebrand Muslim preacher.
Writer David Baddiel, a British television personality, seeks to expose prejudices in both communities by making fun of them, but believes that comparisons between "The Infidel" and "Four Lions" are not fair.
"I think there's a slight weirdness in them being lumped together. People are going to lump them together because they are about religion, and particularly Muslims, but one of the key things about my film is that it's not about suicide bombers."
Baddiel argues that by focusing on a normal protagonist -- a "relaxed" Muslim who swears and enjoys the odd drink -- his film is more radical by not trying to shock or offend.
"I'm interested in trying to talk about subjects in a comic way that I feel people are too frightened to talk about, but I'm not interested in what I feel is a slightly more adolescent project which is desperately trying to offend," he said.
Chris Morris, who wrote and directed "Four Lions", said recently that his new film, and much of his previous work, is only considered controversial because the media decides to call it that. He embarked on "Four Lions" "as a reaction to the war of words around the whole issue of terrorism and conflicting ideologies," he told the Times.
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