Continuing with the summer series, the Vernon Film Society presents an adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s best-selling novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Monday.
Mixing romance and tragedy with the narrative of thwarted ambition, director Mira Nair combines a thriller with a modern morality tale in this story of a Pakistani man whose pursuit of corporate success on Wall Street leads him on a strange path to the world he left behind.
At an outdoor café in Lahore in 2011, a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the U.S.
Flashback 10 years and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking his fortune on Wall Street. The American dream seems within his grasp, complete with a smart and gorgeous girlfriend Erica (Kate Hudson).
But when those planes crash into the twin towers Sept. 11, a cultural divide slowly begins to open between Changez and Erica. Changez’s dream soon turns into a nightmare: profiled, wrongly arrested, strip-searched, and interrogated, he is transformed from a well-educated businessman to a scapegoat and perceived enemy.
With time, he begins to hear the call of his own homeland.
Ahmed gives a magnificent performance as Changez, whose attitude evolves from an eager willingness to assimilate into a deep unhappiness with his adopted country.
The story told is one of profound global implications and is brought to the screen with great insight by the screen writers, one of whom is the author of the original novel.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist will be shown at the Towne Cinema Monday at 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. Tickets are available at the door and ahead at the theatre and the Bean Scene for $7.
