The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri and set in both New York and Calcutta. Telling the archetypal story of an immigrant family starting a new life in the U.S., we meet the Ganguli family from India. The movie centers around three important characters: Ashoke, the father, a professor who marries, and moves his wife to New York hoping to raise his family with the opportunities that America offers while holding on to his traditions; Ashima, the mother, who marries to escape the tradition and provinciality of her hometown only to find that she misses them desperately; and their son, Gogol, who is a callow and resentful youth who doesn't fit in completely with his peers, and rejects many of the traditions of his homelife.
The acting is magnificent; the scenes in Calcutta are colorful and realistic; and the story is moving. Though I was a little wary at first of the formulaic nature of the story, it was done so well that I just loved it.
In other news: Every house in the UK is being given a device that monitors exactly how much electricity is being used moment to moment; Severe obesity has tripled in five years despite education and weight-loss surgery (could something be wrong with our food?); An eyetracking study caught men, but not women, staring at a batter's crotch; And there is a theory that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives.
