MovieChat Forums > Britz (2007) Discussion > Reminded me of

Reminded me of

posted 17 years ago by h-ahmad-1
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Deewar, the classic Bollywood film about two siblings, one who becomes a cop and the other who becomes a crook.

That aside, I thought Britz was an ok thriller and Riz Ahmed was very good as the righteous, moralistic brother, although the more religious Muslims watching this would be less likely to take to his character, as he sleeps with a white girl and is ready to denounce his own ilk, even if they are terrorists. He's what some would call a 'coconut.'

In places, it was certainly far-fetched and with better writing, it could have been developed with more depth. I get the feeling that there was more to Nasima's motivations than met the eye. Perhaps, because of her religion and skin colour, she got bullied endlessly as a youngster and being victimized by society pushed her to the point where she couldn't take any more. Unfortunately, this was glossed over and just simply showed her immediately becoming a terrorist.

Any thoughts?

[–] shaker-maker 17 years ago

I'm not sure many Muslims would have taken to Nasima's character either. Swore like a trouper for a start - very unfeminine like - and then she too slept with Jude.

I know Sohail's character was supposed to be very non-Muslim, though I feel it would have made the dynamics of their relationship more interesting if Nasima was portrayed as a more devout Muslim whose relationship with her brother has always been close but also at odds because of their cultural differences.

I also wasn't convinced at how quickly Nasima suddenly turned from a woman with very Western behaviours to a fanatical terrorist. I know her friend was persecuted and driven to suicide but she only experienced one bad day of being ignored with a hijab - and that was enough to turn someone so Westernized into a jihadist??