My Name is Khan---a different kind of romance & odyssey film

This is a film by director Karan Johar about an Indian Muslim man with Asperger's Syndrome. Viewers see his life as an odd child with a mother who tries her best to guide her son. When he has trouble attending a regular school, she finds him a private tutor. One of his special talents is his ability to repair many items.

After his mother dies, Rizvan (played oddly enough by an actor with the same last name as his character -- Shah Rukh Khan)keeps his promise to her to go to America and reunites with his brother Zakir in San Francisco. He starts selling beauty products to salons.

He meets Mandira, a Indian Hindu (played by Kajol) hairdresser in one of the salons. They become friends, get married and live together happily with her son Sameer.

Tragedy strikes shortly after 9/11 happens and many American Muslims suffer repercussions including Rizvan's new family. Rizvan sets out on a solo journey across the country trying to meet the President.

Along the way, he meets many interesting people and has some adventures. In Georgia, he becomes friends with Funny Hair Joel (played by Adrian Kali Turner) and Mama Jenny (played by Jennifer Echols). When he hears that their little town has been flooded by a hurricane, he returns to help them.

This film has multiple spoken languages: English, Hindi, Arabic and Urdu. In some ways, I think it's quite exaggerated, a bit corny sometimes but also touching and funny. As there's some flipping back and forth in time since the character is telling a story, be sure to pay attention so you don't get confused.

Also beware of the violence & racism in this film  This isn't gratuitous like in some films but an important part of the plot.

Some quotes from this film:

"My name is Khan and I'm not a terrorist."---Rizvan

"Oh, I think you recognized me. I am Rita Singh, ex-Miss India."---manager of salon

"You look so old. You must have been Miss India before I was born."---Rizvan

"A salesman and yet you speak the truth."---Mandira

"Mom, stop being filmy now. You're such a drama queen."---Sameer

"Fix Almost Anything"---Rizvan's sign

"...the way of Allah is of love, not of hatred and war."---Rizvan

Conversation:

"Mehnaz Herbal Beauty Products will make you glow like a newly-wed bride."---Rizvan to woman

"I'm divorced."--woman to Khan

"Uh-oh. We have nothing for the newly-divorced."---Rizvan

Here are some scenes from this film:

Here's the trailer:

The Other Son, An Israeli film about a baby mix-up

The French title of this film by director Lorraine Levy is "Le Fils de l'Autre" which literally translates into "The Son of the Other." In my opinion, this is actually a more accurate title for this story.

Joseph Silberg (played by French-born actor Jules Sitruk, who had to improve his Hebrew and learn to play guitar for this role) is a young Israeli Jew in the process of joining the military. When his blood test raises questions, it leads to the discovery that he was mistakenly switched shortly after his birth in Haifa during a missile attack. His real birth family is Palestinian.

Eventually he searches out his other family and he becomes friends with Yacine (played by Medhi Debhi). Mahmud Shalaby portrays Bilal, the angry brother of Yacine. This actor has been in a number of interesting films. I'll review some of them in the near future.

Orith, Joseph's mother (played by the lovely French actress Emmanuelle Devos)

It's the modern and Middle-Eastern version of The Prince and the Pauper with powerful political overtones. It raises important questions like: Are you the faith of your original birth family or of the faith you've been raised in? Where do your loyalties lie?

What I also found very interesting about this film is that it had multiple languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic and French! Both families have French connections. It's an interesting point for the story because both knew some English and French, so they were able to communicate despite the fact that neither family spoke each other's traditional languages (Hebrew & Arabic).

It's also interesting to not that there seems to be many connections in many ways between Israeli, Palestinian and French Culture.

This film has some absolutely gorgeous shots in it too!! Great plot, acting and visual artistry make The Other Son an interesting, pleasurable and thought-provoking film to watch.

The director Lorraine Levy claimed to have been greatly influenced by the Israeli writer Amos Oz. Without the use of multiple languages, it probably wouldn't have been possible to shoot this film.

Here are some quotes from the film:

Joseph's conversation with military in-take:
"Hashish?"
"No."
"How often?"
"Tell me the truth, Joseph."
"Now and again."
"What's 'now and again'? Every day? Once a week?"
"Yeah, once a week or so. I'd rather my parents didn't know."

*********


"As you see, our villages are still imprisoned and our lands cut in two. A curse on those who stole from us!"---Bilal to his brother Yacine while they drive back to their home.

"No, he's an engineer. Only he's not allowed to work outside his village."---Yacine talking about his Palestinian father.

"I might have been a jerk like you obsessed with clubs and clothes."---Yacine to Joseph.

"Well, thanks to this jerk you won't look like a hick in front of Yona. ---Joseph to Yacine.

"Look. Isaac and Ishmael. Abraham's two children."----Yacine as he looked at himself and Joseph in the mirror.

"If I had died, would I have been buried as a Jew or an Arab?"---Yacine, from his hospital bed.



Some Quotes from the featurette:


"Family is the microcosm of the genesis of who we are."---Lorraine Levy, director of The Other Son.

"Adults are just children who earn money."---quote by Kenneth Branagh, repeated by Lorraine Levy.

"She made this because you're here. Eat.---Bilal to Joseph at the dinner table, indicating the Arabic customs concerning food.

Here are some scenes:

Here is the official trailer: