Every once in a while I get a review disc in the mail that I just don't want to screen.  Something that I put off as long as I can before popping it into the player.  Second Generation is one such film.  A made for TV movie about the trials and tribulations of young Indian immigrants living in London didn't really sound like anything that I'd be interested in.  I was surprised when I started watching it though, the direction was much better than a typical TV movie, and the story quickly engaged me.  Unfortunately, this two part series goes on for a little bit too long and starts turns into a soap opera by the end.

Heere is the estranged daughter of Sharma, a well to do business man who is in a coma.   Heere's sisters, Pria and Rina are getting to pull the plug on his life support so that they will get to inherit control of his company.  They are already looking for buyers when Sharma wakes up.  Throwing their plans in disarray.

Sharma also has a partner whom he bought out a while ago, Khan.  Khan's son, Sam, and Sharma's daughter, Heere, had an affair years ago.  Sam is now a producer at his small record company where he puts out Asian Underground records (traditional Indian music with a strong hip-hop influence.)  When he runs into Heere at a club, he tries to rekindle their relationship.  Heere has a fiancé though, and though she still feels something from him, she doesn't feel that she can be with him.

The movie centers around Heere's and Sam's relationship, and the conflict between the traditional Indian ways and contemporary English values.

Though I was prepared to dislike Second Generation, the story of these two families and the problems the children had coming being part of two different cultures managed to snag me and pull me into the story.  The beginning has just the right amount of drama and interesting characters to draw the viewer in.

Unfortunately, as the first part nears it's end (this was originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK as a two part miniseries.) the movie devolves from engaging drama into a soap opera like melodrama.  An astounding string of bad luck befalls various members of the two families in an astounding short time.  Suicide, insanity, and betrayal all occur in short order.  Dark hidden secrets are revealed and love is betrayed.  I was astounded at how quickly the series was able to throw all of these elements into to plot.

The dialog was very clunky too, even in the more entertaining first section of the film.  The things that the people said to each other didn't sound real and natural, it sounded more like a screenplay, something every movie writer tries to avoid.

The direction by Jon Sen was actually very good though.  I was surprised at some of the creative touches that he managed to include in a made-for-TV movie.  In the beginning when Sam and Heere are necking on the stairs, a series of jump cuts are used the effectively illustrate the passion that the pair are feeling as well as implying that some time has been passing.  There are several scenes where a hand held camera is used.  Not the jerky motion sickness inducing type of hand held work that is usually in films, but a more subtle use to the technique that enhanced the emotions of a scene without distracting from the events on screen.  It was too bad that Sen's direction couldn't stop the movie from devolving into a soap opera.

Audio:

The two channel stereo English soundtrack sounded very good, though it could have used a little more range in the lower frequencies.  The club scenes just lacked a little punch.  Other than that, the dialog was clear and easy to discern.  There was no distortion or other audio defects.

Video:

The anamorphic widescreen image was pretty good.  There was a little bit of grain in the picture and the blacks weren't as solid as they could have been but otherwise the image looked fine.  The level of detail was fine and the image was sharp.  A nice looking disc.

Extras:

In addtion to the film, this disc also has some production notes, text profiles of the cast and composer Nitin Sawhney, a text piece on Hindu funeral ceremonies, and a list of essential Asian underground CDs.  There is also an isolated music track.

Final Thoughts:

I found myself liking this film soon after it started despite myself.  I wasn't really thinking that it would be very good, or that I would have anything in common with the characters.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself drawn into the story.  Unfortunately as this two part made-for-TV progresses, it turns into a soap opera with people sleeping with other men's wives, several double crosses, suicide and insanity.  It would have been much better if they had kept the story simple, but they put much too much tragedy and betrayal to make the whole film enjoyable.  Director Jon Sen deserves credit for his fine direction, but that couldn't overcome the crowded script and artificail sounding dialog.  This would make a good rental.