Review: Praying with Anger (original) (raw)
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
Date Released: 5/28/93 (Limited release)
Running Length: 1:43
Rated: PG-13 (Language, violence)
Starring: M. Night Shyamalan, Mike Muthu, Christabel Howie, Richa Ahuja, Arun Balachandran
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Producer: M. Night Shyamalan
Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
Music: Edmund K. Choi
Released by Northern Arts Entertainment
Dev Raman (M. Night Shyamalan) is an American-born Indian sent to India as part of a college student exchange program. Dev is reluctant to go, but his mother, to whom he is devoted, insists. So, friendless and alone, halfway across the world, Dev experiences culture shock -- he may look like an Indian, but it is quickly and vividly demonstrated that looks are of little consequence, and it will take more than a glib tongue and an unwillingness to back down to earn acceptance and respect. In the midst of his initial travails, Dev's sole friend is Sunjay (Mike Muthu), his guide and mentor, upon whose advice he relies. There are times, however, when he chooses to be headstrong and ignore Sunjay (on such issues as approaching a pretty girl or passively accepting the taunts of older students). Unsurprisingly, those incidents lead to embarrassment -- or worse.
Stories about clashing cultures are nothing new. In recent years, the subject has formed the basis for comedies (such as the popular 1986 release, Crocodile Dundee, about an Australian transplanted to New York), science fiction (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, about a group from the twenty- third century coping with modern-day San Francisco), and numerous dramas (including 1992's City of Joy and Mississippi Masala). Now, add Praying with Anger to the list. The debut film of M. Night Shyamalan (who produced, directed, wrote, and starred), _Praying with Anger_presents another perspective of this issue.
Comparisons with City of Joy and Mississippi Masala are appropriate. Like Praying with Anger, those movies deal with friction between Indian and American traditions. However, where Masala sets the story in the United States and City of Joy makes the protagonist a white male adrift in Calcutta, Praying with Anger sends an American-born Indian to the "home" he has never known.
The film is at its best when it explores Indian culture and tradition, and examines how Dev must adjust to live in what for him is a strange world. These scenes, which make up a majority of the first half of Praying with Anger, hold the viewer's interest. Shyamalan doesn't reveal anything extraordinary, but neither does he shrink from showing the often-painful rigidity imposed by India's caste divisions. Social class is very much an issue, both as it applies to Dev and the people he comes to care about.
Unfortunately, the basic plot is a series of formulas neatly bundled together. There's the requisite tragic love story, the girl who bucks the centuries-old system, the outsider who comes to be respected by those who previously despised him, and, of course, the coming of age tale. It's always apparent what's around the next corner, and the one after that as well.
To M. Night Shyamalan's credit, he strove for something lavish and ambitious in this, his first effort. While Praying with Anger is often tedious because of its lack of originality, there are occasional glimpses of promise which indicate that Shyamalan may have a future in film making. Overall, however, Praying with Anger relies on too much stock material for it to warrant anything more than a passing interest.
© 1993, 1996 James Berardinelli
-- James Berardinelli
e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net
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