Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

crossbow0106 Most people are aware of Archie Panjabi from the film "Bend It Like Beckham", but especially from the American television series "The Good Wife" in which she plays sexy investigator Kalinda. This film gives her the opportunity to really stretch her acting chops as Yasmin, who for her family is traditional Muslim but for work at a center for the mentally challenged changes into Western clothes and spends time at a bar. The World Trade Center bombing happens and the Muslim community in this film set in the North of England are now under suspicion (there is even a note in Yasmin's locker that states "Yasmin likes Osama". She had to be told who Osama was). The film is sober, absorbing, well acted and played, especially Ms. Panjabi. If fans of "The Good Wife" check this out, they will surely be surprised to see how emotionally deep her character is. This film captures a glimpse into a post 9-11 world in which the world, especially the world depicted in this film, becomes very complicated. Recommended.

m-morhardt While watching the drama "Yasmin" by Kenny Glenaan the viewer gets the impression of how life could be when you are torn between two worlds and cannot decide which one is better for you or how you can combine them. Yasmin is a young Muslim woman who lives two different lifestyles of a typically English woman who lives two different lifestyles at a time: On the one hand, the life in a Muslim community in England, and on the other hand, the lifestyle of a typically English woman in working-class surroundings. When she goes to work, she changes form her traditional Muslim dress into average western style and changes them back when she comes home to her community. The movie deals with the problems of a woman who tries to live two different lifestyles while hiding her background. It deals with the prejudice that English people have got with other religions. I think, the director's intention was to show the audience the invisible war that is going on in England against Muslim people especially after 9/11. I could feel sympathy for Yasmin because I think it must be really hard to live such a life according to the laws of her father and to the expectations of the English people of her. I really like the film because it has made me think about how people can feel when they get rejected. It shows how life can change after such an event like 9/11, and how Islamophobia has grown in the English towns. I would recommend the film because it has got a really good story and subtext. The actors play their roles really well.

luisa-m The director of the movie „Yasmin", Kenny Gleenan, won a prize at the Edinburgh Festival for best British feature. As he says his movie is "between fiction and documentary" because the plot and the characters are not real but the story is quite realistic. Gleenan's movie is about Yasmin who lives with her Pakistani family in the north of England. The whole conflict in this movie is about Yasmin who tries to find her identity but she does not know whether she finds it in her traditional Muslim or in her modern world. So the movie is about (mis-) trust, disappointment and hope.The main character in the feature film is the young, impulsive and self-confident woman Yasmin Husseini. Then there is her warm-hearted but strict father Khalid Husseini who is powerless to control his children and to guide them "the right way". He really tries hard to stop his son Nasir from becoming a freedom fighter. When Khalid fails, you really feel sympathy for him. Yasmin's younger brother Nasir does not only want to risk his life for Islam but is also fascinated by the opportunities the modern world offers him. The fourth main character is John Bailey, a real Englishman. He is Yasmin's colleague at work and between these two there is a certain connection. It could have ended in love but Yasmin has difficulties being frank about her situation at home. All four characters make a certain development in the movie, some positive, others negative.The director shows very well which prejudices and problems exist in a complex society and he does not put the blame on the one or the other. It is quite difficult to combine a traditional Muslim and a modern, western life style but the movie shows that people have different possibilities to deal with this problem. I really can recommend the movie to everyone because it shows the conflict from a new and neutral perspective. It is not just one side that makes mistakes and you really start to think about the actuality of these problems. For getting more into a new culture, the movie is expressive, too.

deepblue2 The movie "Yasmin" deals with the story of a young Muslim woman balancing two worlds. On the one hand, she tries to fulfill her rather conservative father's expectations to act like a good Muslim wife, but on the other hand, she wants to get closer to John, an English-man, who works with her. This works well until September the 11th 2001 when she is confronted with the increasing tension between the western and the Islamic culture: she is insulted at work for being a Muslim, while having problems at home for acting too westernized. The main conflict at home is that Yasmin rejects her husband Faysal, she married on her father's wish, to enable Faysal to get the English citizenship. Faysal himself is completely unable to handle the new environment since he has never lived in a city before. Yasmins brother Nasir, is caught by an organisation preaching hatred to fight for Islam. While Yasmin has to handle Faysal and Nasir, she tries to deal with the growing distance between her and John and her colleagues offending her at work. John is a very friendly and open-minded young man who tries to help Yasmin out of trouble, but, without any success since she doesn't tell him about her private situation,. The film's message is as well its biggest strength. "Yasmin" shows on how many levels a single event can impact on people's lives and how different actions cause certain happenings. Although e.g. the viewer is probably not able to identify with Nasir, one sees in which situation he has been to decide like he does and that things cannot be judged as easily as the media often suggest. The only weakness of "Yasmin" is the predictability of the storyline but since this film is not meant to stun the audience with unexpected turns, that is not a problem. I recommend this movie to everyone who is ready to see how banal and brutal at the same time a nice little life can fall apart.