Two ambitious girls, despite their parents' wishes, have their hearts set on careers in professional football.Two ambitious girls, despite their parents' wishes, have their hearts set on careers in professional football.Two ambitious girls, despite their parents' wishes, have their hearts set on careers in professional football.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 17 wins & 20 nominations total
Pooja Shah
- Meena
- (as Poojah Shah)
Saraj Chaudhry
- Sonny
- (as Saraj Chaudry)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaParminder Nagra was worried that the scar on her leg would prevent her from getting the role of Jess. Instead, the scar, and the story behind it, were worked into the script.
- GoofsA crew member was in the back seat, rocking the car at the airport that Jess's sister and her fiance are in alone. At one point three heads pop up over the seat.
- Quotes
Wedding Guest: Lesbian? Her birthday's in March. I thought she was a Pisces.
- Crazy creditsThe closing credits feature cast and crew singing "Hot Hot Hot", with many of the lyrics in Punjabi. One group can be seen holding a "cheat sheet" index card, presumably with the lyrics on.
- Alternate versionsThe word football was been replaced by soccer in many US prints.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Goodness Ungracious Me! (2002)
- SoundtracksElevation
(2002)
Written and Produced by Bally Sagoo
Published by ISHQ Music
Performed by Gunjan
Courtesy of ISHQ Records
Featured review
No pact with the devil here
My scalp still smarts from the burning coals heaped on it when I vowed I love this film. Bring on the coals; I'll walk over them as well to say again that I love "Bend it Like Beckham." Granted, there's a lot of "in spite of" in that confession. It's a bit movie-of-the-week; the screenplay is on the paint-by-numbers side. And, most troublingly, the director's commentary implies that in this film beauty can be found primarily amongst the white of skin.
The film's genius is not in what's obvious to the Syd Field-doctored eye: character arcs, themes, construction. It's in both the surface and what lurks deep beneath, but not in those layers of artistic topsoil that reviewers seem most often to scratch at. Powerful, sometimes semi-clad female bodies not simply on display but kicking the crap out of a football do a better job of naturalizing female strength and agility than Lara Croft or Zhang Ziyi will ever do. These are real bodies (Keira Knightley's excepted) whose work is not to look great first and kick butt later. They are working bodies whose beauty is in their movement and self-determination. And, in my book, lead actress Parminder Nagra is one of the most gorgeous creatures ever captured on screen not only because she can lay claim to that hackneyed adjective, "luminous," but because her performance has an honesty and un-bookish intelligence that's utterly compelling.
The result is a film women can enjoy without feeling like they're making a pact with the devil to do so. As in Chadha's "Bride and Prejudice," the relationships amongst women sizzle with a chemistry that can't be neatly slotted into the stodgy, Sweet Valley High categories of "best friends" or "sisters." Perhaps Chadha is even right in her commentary to disavow the film's flirtation with lesbianism. "Bend it Like Beckham" has an electricity that can't be reduced to the simple hetero/homosexual love triangle its conventionally structured script would suggest. The precise nature of its pleasure is, ultimately, a bit of a mystery and is all the more seductive for it.
Oh yes, and did I mention that it's hilarious?
The film's genius is not in what's obvious to the Syd Field-doctored eye: character arcs, themes, construction. It's in both the surface and what lurks deep beneath, but not in those layers of artistic topsoil that reviewers seem most often to scratch at. Powerful, sometimes semi-clad female bodies not simply on display but kicking the crap out of a football do a better job of naturalizing female strength and agility than Lara Croft or Zhang Ziyi will ever do. These are real bodies (Keira Knightley's excepted) whose work is not to look great first and kick butt later. They are working bodies whose beauty is in their movement and self-determination. And, in my book, lead actress Parminder Nagra is one of the most gorgeous creatures ever captured on screen not only because she can lay claim to that hackneyed adjective, "luminous," but because her performance has an honesty and un-bookish intelligence that's utterly compelling.
The result is a film women can enjoy without feeling like they're making a pact with the devil to do so. As in Chadha's "Bride and Prejudice," the relationships amongst women sizzle with a chemistry that can't be neatly slotted into the stodgy, Sweet Valley High categories of "best friends" or "sisters." Perhaps Chadha is even right in her commentary to disavow the film's flirtation with lesbianism. "Bend it Like Beckham" has an electricity that can't be reduced to the simple hetero/homosexual love triangle its conventionally structured script would suggest. The precise nature of its pleasure is, ultimately, a bit of a mystery and is all the more seductive for it.
Oh yes, and did I mention that it's hilarious?
helpful•4818
- jeannine1980
- Mar 22, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Tôi Yêu Beckham
- Filming locations
- Barra Hall Park, Freemans Lane, Hayes, Greater London, England, UK(Jess and Juliette meet)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £3,500,159 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $32,543,449
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $161,528
- Mar 16, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $76,585,828
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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Top Gap
What is the Brazilian Portuguese language plot outline for Bend It Like Beckham (2002)?
Answer