Film Analysis: Monsoon Wedding

1.) Describe your experience watching Monsoon Wedding. What about the film stood out to you? What did you find interesting, important, surprising and/or confusing?

At first I found the movie Monsoon Wedding, confusing. In the beginning of the movie, they were speaking a different language and there were captions to communicate to the audience. I felt as if I would not be able to relate to this movie or follow the story due to the cultural and language barrier. Eventually, they were speaking English with a heavy Indian accent which I was able to get accustom too. What stood out to me were the cultural differences. They way their culture has arranged marriages by the parents. The fact that Aditi had not met her future husband until right before the wedding. I also found it interesting that she continued to see a married boyfriend, risking her upcoming marriage and respect of her family. Another part that stood out to me was the brother-in-law was molesting the poor little Aliya. The movie ended up being pretty good, considering the cultural differences. There were many characters with multiple

We see the traditional Punjabi culture portrayed in the arranged marriage for Aditi and Hemant. We also see the Indian cultural display in the costumes, music and the style of the wedding. I believe the film includes a mix of languages to identify with the Indian audience and to make the movie understandable to the western audience. I think that there were so many characters in the movie because, in this culture, family and lineage are very important. They tend to have large families and parents seek a marital partner for their children within their own social class. The arranged marriage is an important event with a lavish ceremony . It is also a time for the families to join together to display their families