Team FC
With age, I've gotten cynical about the romantic comedy genre. You can't blame me. As a Nineties’ kid, this is the genre that invited me into the movies. Those films taught me to remember the best parts of ourselves.
So believe me when I say that I had no plans to watch What’s Love Got To Do With It? The one thing that piqued my curiosity, then, was the director’s name: Shekhar Kapur.
A few scenes into What’s Love Got To Do With It however, it becomes clear that Kapur is the secondary name in this production. He executes and translates, but the primary voice is that of English writer Jemima Goldsmith. This is very much her film.
Exploring the language of arranged marriage and generational discord through the lens of the Royal Family Story might seem far-fetched, but the writing does well to join the dots and contextualise the multicultural tragedy of "upholding the legacy".
It felt warm to hear the applause and giggles and lumps in the throats of a local Norwegian audience. They didn't miss a beat, picking up the tiniest of cross-cultural puns. Maybe it's because the truth across the world, across eras, has stayed the same: Cultural evolution is the ultimate feel-good fairytale.