Tuesday, November 13, 2012

SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN: ROMANCE IN THE UNLIKLIEST OF PLACES

When I first heard the title of this film I was curious. After learning what the plot was I thought it was ridiculous. After watching the movie I found it was a wonderful film that I knew I could go back and watch again and still be entertained.

The premise of the film is that a sheik in Yemen loves fly fishing. He finds it a relaxing way to spend time and dreams of having his own fishing stream in Yemen. The only problem is that there are no salmon in Yemen. It's also not just the fishing that he wants to bring to his country. The sheik is a visionary, wanting to have peace in his country and hoping to change it for the better. To do so he will spare no expense to make it happen.

The sheik contacts his investment consultant in London, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) and tells her to get things started. For Harriet and the group she works for nothing is impossible when it comes to the sheik. She contacts the British government and the PR person in charge thinks it will give them some good press in the hopes of building relations between the two countries.  She doesn't think it will work but that doesn't matter as long as it looks good.

The program is passed down the line until it arrives at the desk of Dr. Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor), a bureaucrat who's comfortable in his cubicle doing little and being paid for it. A devout fly fisherman himself, he thinks there is no way possible this could work and tells Harriet so. Her reply is for him to find a way to make it work. Apparently working together will be nothing but a cause of friction between these two.

Jones gets things running with the hope that the obstacles he finds will prevent the project from moving forward. Instead the doors are opened for each one to be eliminated due to the involvement of the government. Eventually he finds himself meeting with the sheik himself to discuss the project. What he finds, the man he meets and talks with, changes his attitude toward not just the project but his life as well.

Against all odds the project does move forward. Salmon are found and a way to relocate them is made. The river that they intend to bring the salmon to is made and will not only be a place for the fish but will change the world of Yemen as well. Unfortunately not everyone in that country agrees with the sheik and problems are set in motion at the same time the project moves forward.

The nicest thing about this film is that it isn't just about the building of a river to be stocked with fish not natural to the location. It's about life and people and the effects they have on one another. The images of the salmon swimming upstream make for a wonderful metaphor to life lived in pursuit of a dream, constantly battling the flow of the river in the hopes of reaching a goal.

The story also revolves around not just the project but the characters played by Blunt and McGregor. While Blunt is engaged to an MIA soldier and McGregor is married, both are not in relationships they necessarily want. Blunts was short lived, having met the man she fell in love with shortly before he disappeared. McGregor is married to a woman more concerned with her status in life, her career and moving upward in social status than she is in him and his dreams. The pair come together to see the project become a reality and in so doing find one another as well. How that will play out between the return of the missing soldier and McGregor's marriage is resolved before the film ends.

The movie is visually attractive, making the area that is supposed to be Yemen attractive in its own way. The possibilities of making this area not just productive but attractive to tourists and the like becomes believable. It would be wonderful for something like this, something that would make this area of the world a beautiful place to be would happen. But as the story progresses the chances of that happening are less than hopeful due to the politics of the land.

The romance between the two leads is well played and more tender than one would expect. In a world where most movies find the main characters ready to forget their world and responsibilities and ready to jump into bed at the drop of a hat, these characters slowly find one another. The sexual chemistry between them is one that builds and simmers but never becomes physical. The resolution to their predicament isn't resolved until the end of the film.

As I said at the start here, trying to judge a film by title alone doesn't always turn out with the expected results. Don't let the title of this one make you walk by it on the shelf. Instead pick it up and watch it and you'll be pleasantly surprised.


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