The film  “Namesake” is a powerful illustration of neotraditionalism. As a foreign film, “Namesake” will not follow the usual Hollywood formula of hero, nemesis and romantic interest—refreshingly. The movie follows the entire life of a Bengali couple who make their home in and around New York City.

In America, the couple starts a family with a son, who they name Nikolai Gogol (the namesake of the famous Russian writer of Dead Souls, The Overcoat) and, later, a daughter. As usual, the children become the vapid and culturally void automatons of selfishness and pleasure that is the hallmark of modern American society.  Forsaking his roots, Nikolai lives with his cosmopolitan rich white liberal girlfriend who flits from one shallow moment to the next, each filled with romance, entertainment, parties and retreats to her parents New England estate. Nikolai has been distancing himself more and more from his own parents and their old fashioned (progressive?) ideas—that is, until his father dies and Nikolai wakes up.  The event is transformational. His grief is manifested according to custom, with public mourning, traditional garb and shaved head. Nikolai, along with the Bengali community, descend upon his mothers home where the community’s grief is corporately and publicly expressed.

Then the girlfriend appears who looks upon the event as quaint. Her lack of sympathy and her inability to understand the value of tradition is remarkable. A pivotal point in the movie is where she suggests getting away from the house of no-fun-at-all to which he responds sharply and  negatively. Nikolai begins to see that even with the moments of tears and unsophistication, the traditions of his family and culture are exceedingly more valuable than the carefree life of upscale New York society. Nikolai ends up marrying a Bengali girl but that too is plagued by the contagion of backward American culture. Ironically, the great marriage in the movie is the arranged (gasp) one shared by his parents.

I obviously recommend this movie for the thinking members of my audience, particularly, the friends of tradition.