Bend it like beckham - film

"Bend it like beckham" is a film about Jess,a teenage girl who lives in the London area near the airport with her traditional sikh family.

Her father and mother are thrilled to have their eldest daughter Pinky marrying a nice Indian boy, so Jess' family is caught up in elaborate plans for the wedding of her older sister, and Jess must do everything expected of a dutiful daughter. Jess isn't interested in things like that; she 's more passionate and concerned with soccer and fantasizing playing next to her idol David Beckham. For inspiration she also has a large picture of him looming over her bed!

As teenger she is, she still lives with her conservative parents who are not fond of this hobby, but as long as it doesn't interfere with her future, they grundgingly go along with it. Then events set up a path for Jess that will interfere with her parents' idea of their daughter's future. Jess is recluted by Jules for a non-professional league. The coach Joe is impressed with Jess' skills and agrees with Jules that would be an asset to the team. So she starts playing for this women's team but she has to do it behinds her parent's backs and when they find it out they do not approve.

Her mother attempts to replace the love for sports with a knowledge of cooking, but it only fuels Jess' desire to escape the fate her parents have in store for her. She begins to sneak out, feigning employment to play and during most of the film, Jess' own problems remain all but invisible to her family. There are complication of course! Primary to the movie is the conflict between Jess and her parents. The film manages to make their concerns frustrating but also understandable. The mother is focused on decency and wants her daughter to learn the traditions of a normal Indian woman; her father has his own personal history with sports that guides  his doubts. He was a great cricket player but after arriving in England, he was met with racism that kept him competing. He just doesn't want Jess to have to experience that kind of disappointment. In a way we fell bad for blaming them; after all, they are relatively progressive. In fact they have decided to allow their daughters to choose who they will marry for themselves!

Near the end of the film, Jess' father finally comes to realize that his daughter needs to play in order to be happy and that's what he wants for her. There's also a development with Jules and her parents, although it's not nearly as successful because she's just a secondary character. It shows especially when the relationship turns into a predictable case of mistaken sexual orientation (" lesbian?").

Jess and Jules have a believable friendship, so we're invested in their eventual fight when a romance develops between Jess and Joe, their good-looking Irish coach, with whom Jules has an infatuation as well. The romance is refreshing because it's not important to Jess' succeeding or being happy; it only complements her success on the field. All of it turns out all right and there's a big game with an American agent who's come to watch Jess and Jules. A lot of nice messages develops from the characters. Jess does what she wants, but it's only when she confronts her parents truthfully that she's able to do play with a clean conscience.

There is also a respect for the characters' culture that could also be absent in a movie. With all of these conflicts (most of it off the field), there is not a lot of time for soccer. There are training sequences and game montages, but they're there solely to remind us that the game is very important to the characters. I find it's a really nice story, affectionately told!