I watched this after it landed on the hall floor from Lovefilm, didn’t really know what to expect. So with some trepidation and a couple of hours to kill having already watched all the TV series I watch (Perks/Curse of being unemployed), I sat down to watch this.
What did I find you ask? Well, what I first mistook to be just a different angle on the Rom-com genre, substituting pensioners in the place of the usual preppy 20/30 something’s. Turned out to be an irreverent comedy following a group of British pensioners who decide to see out their golden years in India at the newly renovated Marigold Hotel, they go seeking opulence, sunshine and elephants.
However what they find after arriving is more Kevin McCloud and Grand Designs than the Ritz, not as in beautiful open plan living spaces with snazzy appliances, in what would be otherwise unaffordable postcodes. Nope the kind where they have no idea what they are doing and by the projected finished date have nothing but a shell and no money. The Marigold Hotel fits clearly in to this category as what they are confronted with is dusty shell filled with junk and rooms with a bed and door if they’re lucky!
The set backs experienced help to bring his group of aging strangers together but I know how clichéd you say but it is the experience of being changed by the culture and each other that makes this film worth watching. The stellar cast give superb performances which are often understated, allowing them to convey real emotion and sensitivity to problems and issues ranging from death of a spouse, through to homosexuality and racism.
A film worth watching with a great cast, if nothing else to understand how poorly I have probably described it. A film that tries to show that the past isn’t what defines the future and that when you let go of it, life and love can be found at any age.
Nosh, Signing Out.
No comments:
Post a Comment