Ali and Nino movie review

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Movie Review on Ali &Nino
Ali &Nino by Asif Kapadia is a romantic story which transcends the borders of two religions as well as those of countries. Ali (Adam Bakri) is a Muslim man from Azerbaijan while Nino (Maria Valverde) is a young Christian woman from the neighboring country, Georgia. The movie illustrates their first encounter, the challenges they face as a couple until they unite as a family. These two characters attempt to express their love to viewers through numerous dance scenes and romantic looks. Their union is challenged by the World War 1 and later by one of their friends, Malik (Riccardo Scamarcio), who tries to elope with Nino. Ali joins the army to defend his country while Nino goes to Persia during her pregnancy. One intriguing aspect not only entertains but teaches the audience about the history of nationalism and freedom for Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the theme of freedom and nationalism is undermined by the excess time spent elaborating the romance. A quick analysis reveals that they have too many love scenes.
As McCarthy believes that the movie developed a well-balanced mix of culture intended to attract both modern and conservative viewers. The main language used is English and frequently explores topics of safety and personal responsibility common among western countries. At the same time, the director maintained a traditional view expected from a historical movie of a country as conservative as Azerbaijan. In fact, the two protagonists seek the permission of their parents before anything else.

In addition, the two religions in question here, Islam and Christian, are fairly represented, and there is no particular bias observed. When Malik attempts to kidnap Nino as an old custom which forces the girl to accept marriage, Ali knows what it means and ends up killing him as the rightful way to get the bride back. More so, Kapadia included some sort of gender roles where the lady is quiet and submissive to the man. Nino comes off as a calm and understanding woman who creates little resistance to events as they unfold. The landscape is breathtaking, to say the least and brings about the expected scenario of Baku in the early 1900s. McCarthy thinks that the cinematography was excellently done with respect to the political and social setting.
On the other hand, Frankl discredits the movie due to “inconsistent editing”. More so, the basic elements of the movie are inferior compared to historical films such as Doctor Zhivago and The English Patient. The change from the war scenes, romantic scenes, and other relevant topics fails to show any uniformity. In fact, the viewers can easily lose track of the themes portrayed in the plot. Perhaps Kapadia wanted to focus on love between different people, but the film comes off as a fake attempt of actors to express their characters. Most of the viewers might feel like the Russian accents are an exaggeration. Yes, we could say that Kapadia did a great job in his attempt to explore some historical events ignored by most of Russia and its environs, but the expectation of the movie were extremely high. Nationalism and freedom under political pressure should have taken an equal or even greater role than the romance between Ali and Noni. In fact, the personalities of all these characters should have been highly profound given that they were somehow credited for the founding of a country. Conclusively, the movie focused more on the social aspects of nationalism and love among religions and countries rather than cinematic accuracy.

Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Ali & Nino. Dir. Asif Kapadia. Perf. Adam Bakri and Maria Valverde. 2016. putlockerfree.com/watch-ali-and-nino-2016-movie-online-10992.html.
Frankl, Ed. Ali and Nino – first look review. 2016. Little White Lies. lwlies.com/festivals/ali-nino-first-look-review. 2 December 2016.
McCarthy, Todd. Ali & Nino: Sundance Review.27 January 2016. The Hollywood Reporter. www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/ali-nino-sundance-review-859999. 2 December 2016.