The National Treasures' Indian Holiday

Over the past few weeks I have been to the cinema to see two very different British Films. Different in genre. Both excellent at entertaining. One made me laugh. One made me frightened. One made me sad. One made me frightened again. I am of course referring to "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "The Woman in Black". 


The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel


This film surpassed my expectations, primarily because I had been told by someone it wasn't worth seeing. I had seen trailers for the movie and simply it looked like a nice film, with a group of "national treasures" on holiday in India. Nonetheless, I felt the setting, script and cast provided a thoroughly entertaining time. Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton and Tom Wilkinson, a cast of some of Britain's greatest talents, they all played their roles exceptionally, combining humour and sadness. 

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Maggie Smith usually plays the role of a "lady"but her role couldn't have been further from Downton Abbey. Put truthfully her character at the start was a xenophobic racist who suggests she won't eat anything she cannot pronounce. Nevertheless, as the film develops Smith's character mellows and 
empathises more after being exposed to Indian culture. To use a cliche, the characters travel to India to find themselves.





Judi Dench's character, Evelyn, travels to India after having lost her husband, in an attempt to do something adventurous in her later years. Perhaps a little cheesy, she ends up working as  cultural advisor in a call centre. This gives her character the feel of purpose in life, rather than just living in the shadow of her former husband. Throughout the film Evelyn writes in her diary, acting a narrator, observing the other characters and her experiences.

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For those who haven't seen the film I don't want to ruin it, for example Tom Wilkinson's character has a story I have never seen in cinema before and Bill Nighy's and Penelope Wilton's relationship is intriguing. However, Dev Patel's performance as the keen Indian hotelier was very good, creating an extremely likeable, innocent man who falls for an Indian girl. Patel actually says one of my favourite lines in the whole film:

Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not the end."IMDB

Dench's character called the Jaipur, an "assault on the senses" and it surely painted that picture. Perhaps a little too romanticised. This film is full of friendship, love and life lessons. Nonetheless, although full of cliches, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is worth a watch to make you smile, it's funny, it's poignant, it's nice.