Madame Sousatska is a story of the collision of worlds: British vs. Indian, art vs. business, artist vs. non-artist, and most importantly, adult vs. child.
Manek Sen (Navin Chowdhry) is the bright, gifted child of a poor Indian immigrant, Shushita (Shabana Azmi). Shushita, a rich and powerful woman until her divorce, gets by providing Indian food to department stores in London. Realizing that Manek has real talent, and may be able to have a career as a concert pianist, she pushes him to work on his music. Ultimately, Manek comes to the attention of Irina Sousatska (Shirley MacLaine), one of the best teachers in London. She agrees to take Manek on as a student, and vows to teach him about life while she's at it, which puts her at odds with Shushita. Coming to her flat in a crumbling house in London, Manek enters her world, and meets the people who share the house with her. He develops a particular fondness for Jenny (Twiggy), a model dating Ronnie Blum (Leigh Lawson), a concert promoter who takes an interest in booking Manek for a concert appearance with a symphony orchestra. Madame Sousatska is dead set against this since her own concert career was derailed when she was pushed to perform in public before she was ready. When Manek decides to go ahead with the concert, she refuses to teach him anymore, but when Manek triumphs, she wants to help guide him. Will he continue to work with her, or go on to work with Leo Milev (Robert Rietty)?
It's an interesting premise, handled deftly. Madame Sousatska claims that life and art are all wound up together and can't be separated, and the movie does a good job of showing this. Particularly well handled is Madame Sousatska's back story, which is told through a series of short flashbacks, presenting only the information pertinent to the plot, rather than her whole life story. Manek is shown having a hard time reconciling being a teenager with being an artist in training. And Shushita is shown as not quite accepting that she is not the most important thing in Manek's life.
The acting was first rate. Chowdhry does an excellent job in creating the character of Manek, showing all of the facets to the youth. Twiggy gives a sweet performance as a likable woman longing for a man who treats her badly, and not realizing just how deep Manek's emotions for her run. Lawson is perfect as the smarmy concert promoter. Azmi's Shushita is annoyingly self-absorbed, and clearly more interested in exploiting her son than in raising him. MacLaine sparkles as Sousatska, although she can't seem to decide which accent she is going to use for her character, and her continual switching between them is distracting. Still, it's a solid performance that more than carries the movie.
This a lovely movie, a treat for the ears as well as the eyes. And it shows that devotion to one's art, while it does have its rewards, also has its costs.
Manek Sen (Navin Chowdhry) is the bright, gifted child of a poor Indian immigrant, Shushita (Shabana Azmi). Shushita, a rich and powerful woman until her divorce, gets by providing Indian food to department stores in London. Realizing that Manek has real talent, and may be able to have a career as a concert pianist, she pushes him to work on his music. Ultimately, Manek comes to the attention of Irina Sousatska (Shirley MacLaine), one of the best teachers in London. She agrees to take Manek on as a student, and vows to teach him about life while she's at it, which puts her at odds with Shushita. Coming to her flat in a crumbling house in London, Manek enters her world, and meets the people who share the house with her. He develops a particular fondness for Jenny (Twiggy), a model dating Ronnie Blum (Leigh Lawson), a concert promoter who takes an interest in booking Manek for a concert appearance with a symphony orchestra. Madame Sousatska is dead set against this since her own concert career was derailed when she was pushed to perform in public before she was ready. When Manek decides to go ahead with the concert, she refuses to teach him anymore, but when Manek triumphs, she wants to help guide him. Will he continue to work with her, or go on to work with Leo Milev (Robert Rietty)?
It's an interesting premise, handled deftly. Madame Sousatska claims that life and art are all wound up together and can't be separated, and the movie does a good job of showing this. Particularly well handled is Madame Sousatska's back story, which is told through a series of short flashbacks, presenting only the information pertinent to the plot, rather than her whole life story. Manek is shown having a hard time reconciling being a teenager with being an artist in training. And Shushita is shown as not quite accepting that she is not the most important thing in Manek's life.
The acting was first rate. Chowdhry does an excellent job in creating the character of Manek, showing all of the facets to the youth. Twiggy gives a sweet performance as a likable woman longing for a man who treats her badly, and not realizing just how deep Manek's emotions for her run. Lawson is perfect as the smarmy concert promoter. Azmi's Shushita is annoyingly self-absorbed, and clearly more interested in exploiting her son than in raising him. MacLaine sparkles as Sousatska, although she can't seem to decide which accent she is going to use for her character, and her continual switching between them is distracting. Still, it's a solid performance that more than carries the movie.
This a lovely movie, a treat for the ears as well as the eyes. And it shows that devotion to one's art, while it does have its rewards, also has its costs.