Brick Lane opens on a prologue depicting the carefree life of young Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) in her native Bangladesh, sharing a close bond with her sister as they play in the fields and streams.
Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan captures the sharp contrast between the natural beauty of that landscape and the grimness of the flats complex in London's East End that becomes Nazneen's new home when, at 17, she is sent there for an arranged marriage to a man she has never met.
The film is based on Monica Ali's 2003 debut novel, which was nominated for the Man Booker prize. The screenplay jettisons whole sections of the 500-page book and compresses its principal events into one year, 2001. The significance of the date becomes apparent when local immigrants become the target of racial attacks in the aftermath of 9/11.
When we first see Nazneen in London, she has resigned herself to a life of caring for her husband (Satish Kaushik), an older man and an ineffectual dreamer, and their precocious young daughters who have assimilated the English way of life. She ventures outside their cramped flat only to buy groceries.
The purchase of a sewing machine provides Nazneen with a sense of independence for the first time. It also introduces her to an attractive younger man, Karim (Irish actor Christopher Simpson), who deliveries the clothes she sews. Living in a loveless marriage, Nazneen is drawn by Karim's charming nature and even goes out to attend the anti-racism meetings he addresses.
This affecting film observes everything from Nazneen's point of view, to the point where we feel as detached and isolated from the world outside her flat as she does. Consequently, we are drawn deeper into the experiences as she finally finds her own voice and her place in the world.
Indian actress Chatterjee is as restrained in her subtle portrayal of Nazneen, as the film itself is in the low-key, muted style established and sustained by director Sarah Gavron, a graduate from TV drama.
