"Attitudes must change before behaviour? Research points toward the opposite. Behaviour changes first, because of new laws or other interventions; individuals then modify their ideas to fit their new acts." - Thomas Pettigrew Directed by Josh Appignanesi, "The Infidel" stars British-Iranian stand-up comic Omid Djalili as a man who was raised in a Muslim household but undergoes an identity crisis following the realisation that he was once adopted and is actually Jewish. Aiming to reconcile East/West, Islamic/Judaeo-Christian tensions, it's one of those "let's all get along", "we are all the same", "we are all equal" comedies, but is mostly useless, as it ignores the systemic, structural and class based causes of hate, intolerance and racism (Djalili's stand-up comedy likewise mostly reinforces rather than challenges racial stereotypes). Look at history, and it's clear that it is largely wealth polarisation which leads to social breakdown, hate-mongering and the rise of authoritarian governments, which are either promoted by the ruling class to contain civil unrest amongst the least wealthy or promoted by the least wealthy to oppose the muscle of the privileged (often foreign countries or interests). The kind of racism we see directed toward Jews, Arabs and Persians has less to do with religion and customs, than land, money and capitalism. Meanwhile, in the West, racism is wholly institutionalised, and takes on a more benign image, in the form of ceaseless uncontested wars, austerity measures, and the scapegoating of the unemployed, immigrants, impoverished etc. Here code words, euphemisms and innuendo are used to veil the racist message, but the aim is always the same: the diversion of blame and anger - anger about bad housing, no housing, war, boring work, no work, bad wages, pensions, conditions, job insecurity, no future, and so on - toward the Other, be he at home or abroad. Instead of attacking the real causes of these (and other) problems, people are encouraged to direct their anger against people who face similar problems.But the most important factor in reinvigorating a whole new round of global racism is the resurgence of a certain brand of Reagan-Bush conservatism (or neoliberalism), whose hallmark was the reinstatement of laissez-faire economic policies and rhetoric. A "free market", economic "experts" argued, necessarily produced inequality; but by allowing unhindered market forces to select the economically fittest and to weed out the unfit, the economy would become healthy again. The wealth of those who survived and prospered in the harsh new climate would ultimately benefit the less fortunate, through a "trickle-down" effect which was supposed to create millions of new high-paying jobs. All this would be accomplished by deregulating business, reducing taxes on the wealthy, and dismantling or drastically cutting back federal programmes designed to promote social equality, fairness, and compassion. In actuality, of course, the opposite happened, with wealth flooding upwards, the middle class being destroyed, the creation of low-paying, dead-end jobs, global debt exponentially increasing, money exponentially losing its value, and markets needing to be constantly expanded, often via wars, such that a continual influx of people might be sucked into the base of the system to support it. What you now have is a Global Ponzi scheme, which must spread and spread and absorb more and more people to stay afloat. Meanwhile, the ruling class sees unprecedented gains in wealth.Though forecast centuries ago, isolated from the margins of capitalism, your typical Westerner couldn't see this coming. He believed himself to be a mighty free agent, whose wealth was the product of his labour, his actions, rather than a case of infinite regression – as profits always outpace pay - where there is always someone below you labouring harder for less, and harder for less, to support you. The system doesn't "naturally" cause upward mobility, it simply favours those who entered first, and broadens its base so more and more are sucked in at the lower levels. Beyond this, the Reaganite doctrine of inequality gave the official seal of approval to ideas of racial superiority that right-wing extremists had used for years to rationalise the exploitation of minorities. If the economic gap between whites and non-whites was growing, if most non-whites live below the poverty line - well, that just proved that there was a racial component in the Social-Darwinian selection process, showing that minorities "deserved" their poverty and lower social status because they were "less fit." The winners on the income scale are given a reason for self-satisfaction. Their gains are due to personal merit, the application of high intelligence, and the smiles of fortune. Those on the loosing side are guilty of sloth, self-indulgence, and whining. Perhaps they have bad culture, or bad genes. The logical corollary of this is that whites who are "less fit" also deserve their poverty. In truth, both the wealthy and the poor have little free agency when it comes to their position.But of course much of the racism directed toward (and experienced within) the Middle East today stems from raw Western Power. It's a feedback loop, the West sanctioning, blockading, terrorising, bombing, covertly assassinating and manipulating the "East" - a kind of full spectrum racism - in order to retain its own privilege and social advantage, which of course leads to blow-back from the East, a violent reaction that is often sought as it justifies the West's own further violence. Racism is more than an ideology, a belief system or a negative attitude towards others arising out of prejudice. If that alone were the case, then racism would be "reduced to something which takes place inside human heads", and the implicit presupposition here is that a change of attitude which will put an end to racial oppression can be brought about by dialogue, by an ethical appeal for a change of mentality. But such an understanding ignores the real factor behind racism (as well as sexism): Power (ie the capacity to act). 4/10 - Has nothing to do with anything. Worth one viewing.

I watched this on BBC I player last evening (Jan 2012) as it had been shown on the BBC. Enjoyed it immensely, although some of the lesser characters seemed to be quite stereotypical. The let down for me was the very limited exploration of the Jewish community and how they would accept (or otherwise) a person with this background. That said a polished performance from Matt Lucas. Omid Djaili gives real credence to the main character and is very believable, very much the real star of the Movie. David Badiel (Author) has done a great job on the script and makes the dialogue more than believable. I recommend this as viewing for all despite some of the flowery language (very much in context) I would suggest some of the Dialogue (racist) is occasionally used for dramatic/comedy effect rather than as necessary to the plot, although it is never over the top, and would be hard pressed to be taken as seriously offensive by anyone except the most extreme.Enjoyable and thought provoking worth the watch.

I instantly recognised the leading actor on the DVD cover, and I noticed it being the first film to be written by David Baddiel, I obviously hadn't heard about during its release, but I decided to try it out. Basically Mahmud (Omid Djalili) is a loving husband and doting father, he may say the F word quite a lot and may not pray much, but he is relaxed living as a Muslim. It is after his mother had died that he finds something out that he never knew about himself, his birth certificate reveals not just that he was adopted, but that he was actually born Jewish. Mahmud's real name is Solly Shimshillewitz, and after this revelation he is in a spat of identity crisis, he is pretty convinced he needs to convert into his true birth religion. The only person Mahmud can turn to help him achieve this and teach him lessons in Jewishness is from American Jewish taxi driver Lenny (Deep Impact's Richard Schiff), from the palm action to dancing like Topol. After so much effort trying to change himself, and getting himself in trouble with both his family and friends, and even the authorities, Muhmud decides in the end not to hide the truth about his heritage, but he will remain a Muslim and ask everyone to let it lie. Also starring Archie Panjabi as Saamiya, Amit Shah as Rashid, Yigal Naor as Arshad El Masri, Mina Anwar as Muna, Soraya Radford as Uzma, Matt Lucas as Rabbi, Miranda Hart as Mrs. Keyes and Paul Kaye as Policeman. Djalili, who would normally be seen in supporting roles, does pretty well as the main character, and Schiff is dry-witted, Baddiel does pretty alright in the writing, I didn't get all the jokes, this may offend some people, but for me, not a bad comedy. Okay!

When I watched this film I wonder if a story like this could actually come out from Singapore's film industry. After all, we're one multi-racial and multi-religious melting pot so the context of having such characters here isn't that far fetched, and to have this screened here (albeit under an M18 rating), does say something. Moreover, it's a great film speaking up against religious fanaticism, and aimed its sights well at false prophets who adopt a holier than thou attitude in hoodwinking their followers.Mahmud Nasir (Omid Djalili) and his family are a typical moderate Muslim family, with Mahmud himself living the rather carefree life that had just overcome the death of his mom. His son Rashid (Amit Shah) announces that his intended fiancée and wife to be Uzma (Soraya Radford) will soon be getting a new stepdad, and as it turns out permission for her hand in marriage will have to be sought from none other than Arshad El Masri (Yigal Naor), a firebrand Pakistani cleric infamous for his anti-Western tirades. To Mahmud, this spells trouble to be associated with such a negative, high profile figure, but for the love of his son, have to put up his best behaviour when this international figure comes for a visit to discuss marriage. Not to mention the stress of having to portray himself as a devout Muslim man!And to make matters worse, like the trailer already suggested at length, Mahmud discovers while clearing up his mom's place that he's adopted, and traces his lineage to be actually that of a Jew. A major identity crisis ensues because of his son's future happiness, and of course him having to rediscover and seek out the truth about his roots. With his birth father in critical health in the hospital and at the insistence of a rabbi (Matt Lucas), Mahmud has to reconnect with his Jewish roots in order to stand a whiff of a chance to talk to a man on his deathbed. Thus begins a comedy of errors arising from a clash of obvious cultures and attitudes when Mahmud has to reconcile with a one-time enemy Lenny Goldberg (Richard Schiff), in order to learn the Jewish customs and culture in double quick time.There are plenty of jokes here that treaded the fine line of being racist, and I mean a very fine line. But as the movie put it across, it isn't racist if the one telling it is actually highlighting and poking fun at one's own race, which leaves some food for deeper thought. So we have a barrage of comical situations, some brilliantly crafted and full of wit, while others fell flat and came across as quite distastefully done, but nonetheless there were more positive rip-roaring moments than not, which I feel only the relatively more uptight folks will find additional reasons not to let loose and enjoy the film as it is.More importantly though, beyond the laughter, is its theme of family and friendship that transcends how we look and who we are on the surface, segregated and branded by our name, or religion, or culture, which should never be the case. Sure we can have the freedom to believe in what we want, but with that also come tolerance for that of others, and a reminder never to judge others or compare just because we're different at that level, but fundamentally we belong to the same species inhabiting the same shared earth, and life will be all the more harmonious should we not try to impose bigoted thoughts on others.While the ending may seem a little bit stretched, it did work as intended, and provided a fitting finale with moderatism triumphing over extremism. Both Omid Djalili and Richard Schiff put up fine performances and share excellent chemistry together as enemies turned friends, with their scenes together being some of the best be it focused on physical comedy, or through that rapid fire exchange of insults. Highly recommended for its relevance in our day and age for the messages it sets out to counsel.