June 22, 2007
Frameline: Nina's Heavenly Delights
SFist Mihi checks out the mainstream same-sex flick blurbed by SFist Sara!
We were forced to sit in the low-oxygen, nose-bleed section of the Castro Theatre last night because the place was packed to the rafters for Frameline's screening of Nina's Heavenly Delights.
The plot in short: prodigal, runaway-bride daughter, Nina, returns to Glasgow for her father's funeral and not only saves the family's Indian restaurant but manages to come out of the closet and release the whole family from the bonds of social propriety in the process. If only life were that neat and tidy!
After the jump: food scenes, your prototypical plotline, and thick Scottish accents. Like Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies?
SFist Mihi, contributing.
Director Pratibha Parmar promised the audience that the food scenes would be heavenly and indeed they were. Nina, played by Shelley Conn is a stone cold fox, but other than that, Nina's Heavenly Delights reminded us of a slow-moving lesbian version of a lightweight Julia Roberts flick (think "My Best Friend's Wedding" mixed in with a little "Runaway Bride").
Plus it had plenty of plot holes. And not enough love scenes. And the standard-issue queeny gay man as predictable comic relief. On top of that, we have to ask, Westernized children battling with traditional parents and bonding through food? Again? Really?
There were moments when the movie also reminded us of Wuthering Heights. Does anyone remember reading that book and not understanding what the heck the cantankerous groundskeeper Joseph was saying because his narration was written in a thick Yorkshire patois? Well, we have to admit we only understood about 70% of the movie because even though we saw their lips moving and we're sure they were speaking English, some of the dialogue was swallowed up in what we're assuming was a Glaswegian accent.
|
We too were up in the nosebleed seats, and too afraid of falling off the balcony to leave before the end.
God that was boring. I love curry, Glasgow, and lesbians but this plodding almost amateur proto-Disney ("All you need is heart!") flick was deeply disappointing. Mihi - it wasn't the accents, it was just that half of it sounded like it had been overdubbed in a toilet.
This was all covered much better, eight years ago, in East is East.
We were in the nosebleeds as well, and absolutely hated the film. I wanted to leave early, but couldn't work up the courage to blaze a path through the darkness at such a great height. Nothing says sprained ankles like dark stairs.
This movie was totally lesbians as imagined by Disney. Follow your heart! Live your dream! Share your passion! You can DANCE! Sing it GIRL! Cook up that CURRY!
It might've made a good teen flick for budding lesbian girls who need a boost in the romance department. Awful for adults who know better.
Also, Touch of Pink did it better, too.
I was down on the floor and hated it as well for all the above reasons. My bf and I thought we were the only sane ones in the theater, b/c it seemed most of the audience had seen Jesus, based on the applause. Glad to read weren't the only ones who groaned from the opening credit sequence to the predictable ending. c'mon, framline, be a bit more daring. You are 31 now.