Love + Hate was written and directed by Dominic Savage.  It is a BBC Films production. Savage has made quite a number of documentaries as well as music videos.  His main work prior to this film was for television and this is clearly seen in the style of Love + Hate.

The film, produced in 2004, is completely relevant to events in the United Kingdom in 2005.  It highlights racial tension in the north of England where the British National Party has a number of members in local administration.  It also provides some background to the kind of interracial hatred and clashes with Muslim cultures in English cities.  This was to culminate in the Underground and bus bombings in July 2005.  (Another film which gives almost prophetic background to the kinds of clashes, to the indoctrination of young Muslims that leads them to be terrorists is given in Red Mercury. Kenny Lagaan’s Yasmin is another powerful story on this subject.)

The setting is Preston in Lancashire.  The film takes advantage of local photography, giving an authentic atmosphere of life in the town.  The centre of attention, besides the homes of a Pakistani British family as well as a traditional English family, is a shop where representatives of each family work.  Tensions are already seen in the shop where a young assistant, Adam, is hostile to the new recruit for the shop, Naseema. 

The complication is that Adam is really attracted to Naseema, she to him.  Meanwhile, Michelle, who has made her welcome and who is clashing at home with her father, is having a relationship unbeknown to Naseema, with Naseema’s brother.  However, the brother has double standards, carries on his affair in secret but is extremely condemnatory when he finds out about Naseema herself.

The film highlights the double standards, the implicit racial attitudes.  This is especially seen in the group of young white racists in the town, their acts of violence, ultimately the bashing of Naseema’s brother.  Ironically, the screenplay has the brother working with Michelle’s father.

In a short running time, the film is able to recreate the atmosphere in Preston, give insights into the life and styles of a sincere Pakistani family, the pressures on the young women, the double standards of the men.  It also highlights the need for breakthrough in understanding these tensions (which, ultimately, can lead to the kind of violence that was seen in the bombings).  Love has to overcome the hate.

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: