Ae Fond Kiss... (2004)

Sparks fly in Glasgow's south side when a young Asian man enters into a relationship with a Caucasian woman.

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Paul Laverty (screenplay)

Stars:

Atta Yaqub, Eva Birthistle, Ahmad Riaz

7 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Atta Yaqub	...	Casim Khan
Eva Birthistle	...	Roisin Hanlon
Ahmad Riaz	...	Tariq Khan
Shamshad Akhtar	...	Sadia Khan
Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh	...	Tahara Khan (as Shabana Bakhsh)
Ghizala Avan	...	Rukhsana Khan
David McKay	...	Wee Roddie
Raymond Mearns	...	Big Roddie
Gary Lewis	...	Danny
Emma Friel	...	Annie
Karen Fraser	...	Elsie
John Yule	...	Headmaster
Ruth McGhie	...	Mary Nolan
David Wallace	...	Father David (as Father David Wallace)
Dougie Wallace	...	Janitor

Storyline

In Glasgow, Scotland, the Pakistani parents of Casim Khan have decided that he is going to marry his cousin Jasmine. Unfortunately, Casim has just fallen in love with his younger sister's music teacher Roisin. Not only is she 'goree', a white woman, she is also Irish and catholic, things that may not go down well with Casim's parents. They start a relationship but Casim is torn between following his heart and being a good son.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | catholic | india | irish | pakistan | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

BIM Distribuzione [Italy] Official site [United Kingdom]

Country:

UK Belgium Italy Spain

Language:

English Panjabi

Release Date:

25 August 2004 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Just a Kiss

Filming Locations:

51 Mansewood Road, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bianca Film, Cinéart, Glasgow Film Office

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Contrary to what he states, the sweet dish Casim serves Roisin is 'Ras Gulla', not 'Gulab Jabun'.

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Quotes

Roisin Hanlon: If your dad's such a great guy, I don't see why he can't start treating me like a human being.

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Connections

Referenced in Telma demain (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Intimacy"
Taken from the album "Before the Light"
Written by Kjetil Bjornstadt
Performed by Kjetil Bjornstadt, Elvind Aarset and Nora Taksdal
Used with the kind permission of November Music Ltd.

User Reviews

Another tick in the box for Ken Loach

I saw this at the Edinburgh Film Festival last night. I'm not a natural fan of Loach's work, although grew a little warmer to it after Sweet Sixteen.

What he's made here though is a believable, warming love-story. Aside from 'location-spotting' the Glasgow geography, there was a feeling throughout the film that's difficult to pin down (or articulate!); just a kind of "yeah, that's right, these people and these feelings are real".

Lead-wise, a great line up, Atta Yaqub plays a quiet Casim, and Eva Birthistle a brilliant but natural Roisin - there's nothing that stops you believing that this is a couple in love.

As for the rest of them - some excellent characters and some good acting. One criticism is Loach's practice of using non-actors - sometimes this leads to an almost TOO natural delivery of the script. The strength of the whole cast comes through though, and there's certainly no feeling of any tokenism or stereotype characters.

One actor who doesn't appear to have had much notice in any write-ups I've seen is Shabana Bakhsh, who plays Tahara Khan, Casim's youngest sister. She's fantastic. Again, falls a little foul of sometimes sounding overly natural... but what a star though. She was very believable as the rebellious, starting to get politically active, younger sister.

All-in-all, a great film, worth seeing. I think it's out on general release sometime in the early autumn - well worth the ticket.