The Infidel

Consider the following two scenarios: What would be Tony Soprano’s reaction if he learned that he was born to a Black mother? Or how would Adolf Hitler have responded upon discovering that his mother was Jewish? I pick on these two personalities because their prejudice and scornful attitude toward Blacks and Jews are well known. While the main protagonist in “The Infidel” (2010) is not a celebrated fictional character nor a major military figure, nonetheless his ethnicity reversal does represent a plausible situation that can befall any ordinary human being. Rather than create an emotional drama surrounding the ethnic identity dilemma, director Josh Appignanesi concocts an effective, raunch-less comedy that is thoroughly enjoyable, yet devoid of conventional stereotypes evident in recent comedies coming out of Hollywood.

Enter Mahmud (Omid Djalili), who is a devout Muslim, a loving husband to Saamiya (Archie Panjabi), and a devoted father, with a buddy-type relationship with his son, Rashid (Amit Shah). Early on, we see his occasional arguments with a Jewish taxi driver, Lenny (Richard Schiff), who also happens to be his neighbor. One day, Mahmud, after searching through his dead mother’s belongings, finds a birth certificate that reveals his Jewish identity. After being raised by a Muslim family, Mahmud naturally assumed himself a Muslim. But to his surprise, Mahmud is Jewish, and he must disclose his true ethnic identity to his family. Meanwhile, Mahmud feels obligated to his Jewish roots, and through a funny turn of events, Lenny and Mahmud develop a close friendship. Lenny teaches Mahmud Yiddish, Jewish customs, and traditions and takes him to a big Jewish party. Soon things go bad for Mahmud when he finds out Rashid is in love with a girl whose stepfather, Arshad Al-Masri (Yigal Naor), is a fundamentalist Muslim. Time is running out for Mahmud for he must find a way to bring Arshad around to the situtation and unite his family.

Director Josh Appignanesi reveals in an interview on the disc that he and the film’s writer, David Baddiel, are fans of life-swap comedies like “Trading Places” (1983) and “Big” (1988). Baddiel returns to this familiar theme of scripting out an identity-swapping situation but with a different flavor. “Big” dealt with a young boy’s yearning to be an adult. The key character in “Big” was presented with a life-changing situation and he readily accepted it. Likewise, the characters of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd interchange their social class status in “Trading Places,” and each finds his own realizations in the process. However, the real-life situation exchanges in both these movies are temporary. With “The Infidel” Baddiel makes a minor tweak to the earlier identity-swapping template seen in “Trading Places” and “Big,” and this time around he permanently engraves Mahmud’s ethnic switch from which there is no turnaround; it is not a fantasy or a dream sequence, but it is for real. For this reason, Mahmud’s situation is so utterly realistic that one can easily relate to it. Baddiel’s screenplay dealing with fictional characters that are caught up in a real-life situation makes “The Infidel” compellingly convincing.

Playing the most vital character in the movie, Omid Djalili delivers an astonishing comedic performance--one that should be remembered for a long time. His character breaks all the boundaries of a traditional image attached to a Muslim man. He is a hot-tempered, foul-mouthed Muslim who never for a moment steps back before launching a vulgar tirade, irrespective of the situation. In addition, he does not pray five times in a day as a devout Muslim would do, and he listens to classic rock music.

“The Infidel” is all about interactions and funny situations. The verbal exchanges with Lenny and later at a Jewish party are completely hilarious and natural. Then, there are segments in which Mahmud fantasizes his family reaction, if they find out that he is Jewish. Not only do these sequences represent the identity crisis befallen on Mahmud, but they also dig deeper into the mental psyche concerning his ethnic quandary. Djalili’s facial expressions are priceless from the moment he discovers the buried secret of his Jewish roots. Djalili shines in displaying the dual sides of his character, both as a Muslim and as a Jew.

Through Mahmud’s tale, the director weaves a hybrid religious crossover story, although he approaches it very sensitively, without offending the Muslim or Jewish communities. Mahmud’s initial condescending attitude towards Jews is replaced by a learning process that educates him to be respectful of Jews. He gradually comes in terms with his Jewish ethnicity, but at the same time, he does not forget the key teachings prescribed in the holy book, the Koran. More so, the message conveyed in the climax comes right from the Koran. In the rally, Mahmud upstages Arshad by saying that he is Muslim first, but he also cannot fully ignore the fact that he is Jewish, after all. Furthermore, being a Muslim at heart, he cannot tell lies to his family about his Jewish heritage; the teachings in the Koran encourage Muslims to be truthful to their families.

I think the director, Josh Appignanesi, should be credited for keeping things in balance without being overly critical of any community, even when he shows Arshad as a Muslim fundamentalist. Of course, along the way he doesn’t hesitate to point out an incongruous belief system of fundamentalist Muslims. When Mahmud approaches his friend in a mosque to talk about this secret, his friend assumes he is gay. Mahmud’s friend later tells him that a gay person can be stoned to death according to Islamic Sharia Law. In another instance, Rashid fears that his lover would be sent to a remote Pakistani village where women legally wear muslin. These segments also bring to light how a liberal Muslim’s viewpoint differs greatly from that of a fundamentalist Muslim. Appignanesi exercises restraint by subtly representing the debate of liberal Muslims vs. fundamentalist Muslims. As a result, these moments remain truly comedic rather than being a commentary on the current turbulent relationship between Jews and Muslims.

Despite the positives, I felt “The Infidel” was too sugarcoated, especially considering the religious intolerance that exists between Jews and Muslims. The film mostly plays from a Jewish angle, and we do rightly see the Jewish-phobia factor evident in the Muslim community. However, the Islamophobia issue prominent in the Jewish community is hardly discussed here. Instead, we get a black-and-white representation of Jews that borders on being too politically correct. Moreover, the film sags in the third act when Mahmud is shown experiencing an emotional turmoil when he discloses the truth to his family. In the end, “The Infidel” succeeds as a comedy because it brings in laughter based on the real-life situations of its characters, and superfluous raunchy moments are never used.

Video:

New Video presents “The Infidel” in an anamorphic transfer in an aspect ratio of 1:78.1. Shot on 16mm film, the transfer perfectly represents the low-budget nature of the film. The grain present is never distracting and adds to the overall experience. Mostly, the transfer is sharp and clear.

Audio:

There are two audio options included on the disc: a 2.0 Dolby digital track and a 5.1 Dolby Digital track. I watched this movie in the 5.1 mode. For most part, the dialogue is clear and audible. However, on a couple of occasions I found the volume level really low, but otherwise the track works well. There is no option to watch the movie with subtitles.

Extras:

Starting off the extras, we get a commentary track with director Josh Appignanesi, stars Omid Djalili and Richard Schiff, and writer David Baddiel. In this track, the director articulates his thoughts on the story and why he decided on the ethnic-crisis situation for this film. Baddiel discusses various scenes, especially the humorous moments.

Following this, we get a brief interview segment with the director, Josh Appignanesi. In the interview, he talks about how the idea for the movie originated. 

Up next, we have an interview segment with the cast, director, and producer, where they discuss the main Jewish character from the film and his interaction with a taxi driver played by Richard Schiff.

Next, we have a short segment called “Viral Trailer.” In this, we see Jews and Muslims watching “The Infidel” in a theater. Definitely, an interesting extra. We also get a collection of seven Infidel religious jokes. Following this, we have a series of five segments, “Infidels in Conversation,” in which actors discuss their moments from the film, specifically talking about the religion, Jewish mothers, comedians, and taxi drivers. Finally, we get a view of David Baddiel’s blog through a collection of seven short sequences.

Parting Thoughts:

Forget about Hollywood’s comedies released in the last two years. “The Infidel” seriously gives “The Hangover” (2009)--the biggest comedy grosser--a run for its money. “The Infidel” does not bank on cheap jokes and fake situations; instead, it realistically portrays Mahmud’s ethnic crisis. What’s more, as a religious comedy, “The Infidel” does not offend anyone, and Omid Djalili’s brilliant performance alone is worth viewing. “The Infidel” clearly demonstrates that you don’t need big-name actors or a big budget to produce a good comedy. Indeed, this gem of a movie comes hugely recommended.

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