2. Opening scene
In the opening scene we see straight away close up shots of Jesus statues and this then leads to a pan downwards for us to
find out that in fact it is Muslims holding these Christian symbols. The camera then gives us a birds eye view of the
street showing a parade for the Christian faith and that the Muslim children are part of it, which for this era was a very
rare thing to see. The scene then cuts to a older Muslim man watching the parade from the side streets and shots of a
British woman watching at the side of the road nervously. This automatically tells us that there is some controversy
within this family and being part of different faiths. The mood in the clip changes completely when we realise the
woman is their mother and exclaims ‘George is home early from the mosque.’ We can presume that this is the man we
saw previously and as he has arrived home from the mosque we can recognise that he is very dedicated to his religion.
As a long shot shows all the children and the mother running quickly with all their decorations, again it is highlighted
how there is going to be conflict between the two faiths.
The birds eye view shot then returns, showing the parade in the main street and the family running to catch up down a
back road, therefore highlighting how they are not the same as the other Christians. In the two shot of the mother and
father, we can see the family hiding behind making sure there not seen and again this highlights how they are worried
about how their father would react to them being part of this public event.
Finally, the music playing throughout is talking about how proud they are of their faith. But also the lyrics relate greatly to
the father as it says ‘I wish that I could be a better man’. This falls in to place later on in the film as we realise that he is
trying his best to be a good Muslim father because he made mistakes and has a British wife. Whereas he wants his
children to follow the faith religiously and properly.
3. Eating meat scene
The scene of the kids eating meat such as bacon and sausages clearly shows how they are not dedicated Muslims and live half
their life as Christians. A close up shot of each child eating a piece of meat is shown at the beginning to make it clear to
the audience that this is usually forbidden. A long shot of the house empty emphasises how their father isn't home and
that this would normally not be allowed if he was present. The more religious son then comes down the stairs with the
use of a low angle shot to show how he’s looking down on them for giving in and eating meat. He states ‘it stinks of burnt
bacon down here, dad would smell it a mile off.’ This shows that their dad would definitely not approve and consequently
the son Is spraying air freshener to try and mask the smell so they don’t get caught out. As soon as there is a knock at the
door, they all stop what they are doing and look at each other in surprise. This is as there could be a chance of their father
coming home, until they find out it isn't him.
When the girl notices her father coming up the street, a very far zoom in on him approaching emphasises that he is not far
away at all and will be home soon. Diegetic sound is also used to emphasise the worry on the girls face as the violins
make it very intense. The girl then screams and runs inside the house to warn the others of his arrival. Fast cuts are used
to make the scene seem more manic and that they are desperate for him to not find out. The music changes to an upbeat
tempo, suggesting that the future events are not going to be bad and that they are not going to get caught.
4. Closing scene
In the closing scene, we see that the sons of George have stated that they are not going to be involved in the arranged
marriage and consequently the rest of the family stick up with them and everyone tells George they are unhappy.
A series of fast cuts highlights how there is tension between the family and here we can notice in particularly how
boundaries are being broken as the father starts to break many rules within the religion. He starts by trying to hit his
wife until he is held back by his sons which would be deemed as unacceptable in their faith. He then starts swearing
and using taboo language which suggests how he is giving up the act of being the good Muslim father and has lashed
out on his family instead.
His daughter then states ‘Are you happy now dad? Is this what you wanted?’ and this is emphasised by a high angle shot to
show the differences in power between he characters and how the female is scared of her father. This links back into
their religion as women are often looked down upon.
The film ends with the mother and father making up in their shop where the dad says his famous quote ‘I’ll have half a cup
of tea’. This highlights how he is part of two religions and is never going to be a full dedicated Muslim as his life
differs from the norm greatly.
