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Similar Products – Film Beginning Analysis

Bend It Like Beckham (2002):

Studio: British Sky Broadcasting

Written by: Gurinder Chadha,Guljit Bindra,Paul Mayeda Berges

While the opening credits are on the screen, John Motson (A football commentator) can be heard commentating over a Manchester United football match. Then the match appears while the commentator describes Manchester United’s need for a goal. Then a cross goes in to the box and is headed in by the protagonist, Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra. Everyone in the stadium starts celebrating the goal. Then it cuts to a scene in a TV studio where Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen and John Barnes discuss her as the “answer to England’s prayers”. Then Jess’ Mum is in the studio saying about how she shouldn’t be playing football. It then transitions to her Mum bursting into her room and turning off the football on her TV saying how she should be with her sister who is getting engaged. When she is forced to go downstairs, she turns to a poster of David Beckham and says “I’m sick of this wedding and it hasn’t even started”.

This opening scene foreshadows the story for the entire movie. Jess wants to follow her dream and become a footballer however her family are completely against it and try to stop her in order to make her be a typical Hindu girl. She dreams of being a footballing icon but her family restricts her. This is represented by her mother bursting into her room while she is dreaming, much like how her mother is bursting the bubble of her dream. The sharp and somewhat violent cut between the football studio and her bedroom shows the harsh reality that her ambition is far from reality.

It is clear that she is unlike her family and how they want her to be when we first see her. She is wearing an Addidas tracksuit whereas her mother is wearing a sari. The fact that she is wearing a tracksuit shows that she is sporty and active. Her mother is very much the opposite. Her mother is wearing dark colours and Jess is wearing light colours which depict Jess as a good character and her mother as the antagonist. Also her mother is standing up whereas Jess is sat down which shows that her Mum is of a higher status and holds more power.

Her bedroom is designed so that David Beckham and Manchester United merchandise is all over her walls. Underneath the posters and shirts, there is a plain beige wallpaper. This

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represents how she doesn’t want to have the boring life that her family are trying to push on her but instead she wants to play football and be like David Beckham.