50 films: 2007 - Brick Lane

Brick Lane is a little gem of a film I knew nothing about. Set in London it tells the story of a woman (played brilliantly by Tannishtha Chatterjee) pulled out of her life in rural Bangladesh - shot in rich colours and slow motion and portrayed, in her head, as a paradise - and placed in an arranged marriage in east London - dour and alien and dark. It's a film about love and home and independence. Satish Kaushik as the husband is also quite wonderful.