Film Review: Salmon Fishing in The Yemen

GE2222 Film Review Essay Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Woon Wei Seng A0002916N
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NUS/2012-2013 Semester 1/GE2222/Film Review Essay/Woon Wei Seng (A0002916N)
National University of Singapore
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
Department of Geography

GE2222: Politics & Space
Year 2012/2013 Semester 1

Fishing for Geopolitics: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Figure 1 (left): Protagonists salmon fishing in a stream in Scotland; Figure 2 (right): Protagonists in Yemen studying the site
for salmon fishing potential. Sources: http://fishingintheyemen.com/assets/photos/image9.jpg &
http://fishingintheyemen.com/assets/photos/image10.jpg

Woon Wei Seng
A0002916N
Tutorial group D05

Word Count: 2689 words, including references & footnotes
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Introduction
Salmon fishing in the what?
How is salmon fishing in Yemen even possible?
These frequent responses from friends, when I discuss the film Salmon Fishing in the
Yemen, actually reveal its two attractions: the Oriental mystery and charms of Yemen
(through its picturesque setting) and a plot so humorous yet ridiculous that it becomes
believable. Marketed as romantic comedy (Metacritic, 2012) yet packaged as political satire,
I examine the subtle geopolitical travails of this movie by fishing critically for geographic,
political and geopolitical themes in its production, portrayal and audience reception. Hidden
behind the postcard-perfect scenery and outlandish storyline of the movie, I unveil the
geographical imagination and construction of places, and critique the conduct of politics and
public relations (PR).
Adapted from a homonymous novel by Paul Torday satirizing the Blair
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government
(Tookey, 2012), the movie features the efforts of a reluctant fisheries expert Dr Alfred Jones
and investment consultant Harriet Chetwode-Talbot in attempting to create the perfect
conditions for salmon fishing in Yemen on the behest of Yemeni sheikh Muhammed, with
their seemingly-absurd endeavour encouraged by British press spokesperson Patricia
Maxwell to orchestrate positive news on the Middle East (IMDb, 2012a). Geopolitics sits
at odds with the movies romance, but this largely light-hearted and atypical romantic
comedy contains subtle messages if one reads between the lines. These messages reflect
everyday socio-cultural and geopolitical imaginaries and realities (Dodds, 2008:476), and
are worth studying as a genre of popular geopolitics. While examining this movie, interviews

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Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007).
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conducted with producers and online forums (ibid: 488) like Metacritic and Internet
Movie Database (IMDb) are analysed to examine producers intentions and audience
reaction towards the movie. Audience response matters as films, while reflective of the
producers ideas and frame of reference, are ultimately made for popular consumption and
must be understood by viewers for its success.

Geographical Imaginations of Yemen and Britain
Several reviews on Metacritic & IMDb praise the beautiful postcard-worthy
tableaux depicted in the movie, of both Yemen and Scotland (IMDb, 2012b). These reviews,
however, do not critically interrogate the framing of these representations, glossing over
the accuracy of such cinematography and portrayals. These representations matter in
reflecting the geographical imaginations of the producers (and hence the audience, in their
complicity regarding these depictions), which are based strongly upon the Othering of
dangerous, mysterious and Oriental Yemen vis--vis soothing, level-headed Britain. The
stereotypical constructions of these places must be problematized because of the potential
for misunderstanding as well as reinforcing post-imperial attitudes (Dodds, 2003). Hence the
intersection of geography, politics and geopolitics are strongly evidenced in these depictions.
Sibley (2009) argues that self-identity is constructed in relation to the Other: in other
words, the self is constructed juxtaposed to what the self is not, i.e. the Other. Yemen can
be said to be constructed as the Other in the British / Western geographical imagination of
Yemen and the Middle East. Reflecting on this essays opening responses, the questions
Why Yemen? and Where is Yemen? demonstrate the relative obscurity and distance of
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Yemen juxtaposed against the familiar and proximate self that is Britain (specifically
Scotland, the scene of much salmon fishing in the movie). The movie actively depicts Yemen
as different from Britain: hot, dry and sandy (and hence unsuitable for salmon fishing!), with
Figures 1-3 best capturing the contrasting portrayals. Yet these images of Yemen are
figments of the imagination: filming was done in Morocco instead of in Yemen (Close-Up
Film, 2012), while the novels author has never visited Yemen (Rees, 2012), hence he wrote
based on his geographical imagination stereotyping Yemen and the Middle East. Therefore
what was seen was not really Yemen but make-believe.

Figure 3: Protagonists gazing into the sandy distance in Yemen. Source: movie screenshot.
The movie narrative highlights the misunderstood spatial location of Yemen in
peoples geographical imaginations. In the opening, salmon fishing in Yemen was dreamed
up as feel good story by Mrs Maxwell, to counter negative news emanating from the War
on Terror in Afghanistan and boost Anglo-Yemeni relations (IMDb, 2012b). Yet what has
Yemen got to do with the Afghan War on Terror when they are nowhere nearby? As
Bayoumi (2012) sarcastically exclaims, because Afghanistan is in the Middle East, we all
know that! Both countries become commingled as the distant, sandy Other; their common
sandiness (Figure 3) is often evoked when either country is mentioned, as witnessed when
Ms Chetwode-Talbots soldier-boyfriend claimed to be dispatched to Afghanistan or
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somewhere sandy. The spectre of Afghanistan lingers in the movie, with its political
implications explored afterward.
The cinematography further emphasizes the distance of the Other in the Middle East.
Contemporary telemetrical visualizations, like geographic information systems (GIS) that
capture images from a distance, are capitalized in spatial representations (Hughes,
2007:982). In case viewers did not know where Yemen is, the cinematographer zooms into
the wadi
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from space, putting it in perspective with the rest of the world, locating it in a
secluded Middle Eastern corner nearer to Afghanistan than Europe.

Figures 4 (left) & 5 (right): Zooming into the wadi in Yemen (right) from outer space (left). Source: movie screenshot.
This Othering in the movie is built upon the geographical imagination of Yemen as
mysterious, dangerous and exotic wilderness, akin to the portrayal of the Balkan intrigue
in James Bonds From Russia With Love (1967) (Dodds, 2003:138). Much of this mystery and
exoticism is based on its geographical location and Oriental characteristics, while the danger
is founded upon the War on Terror and the Islamic extremists living in the Middle East.
While this movie is relatively non-violent, signs of danger and looming threat are visible in
the presence of guns, soldiers (Figures 6 & 7) and plotting terrorists.

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Wadi is an Arabic term referring to a valley with seasonal streamflow.
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Figure 6 (left): man totting gun spotted in desert; Figure 7 (right): even in scenes of romance the armed soldiers presence
(circled) lingers in the background. Source: movie screenshot.
Ironically, Yemens picturesque villages in the movie mask the real-life political
upheavals occurring there (Stables, 2012). In reality, Yemens danger is worthy of a red
warning travel advisory from Britains Foreign and Commonwealth Office due to threats of
attacks against Western and British interests, and described by BBC as a haven for Islamic
militants (The Telegraph, 2012). This terror threat is then worked into the narrative
stereotypically: fundamentalists attempting to (and successfully) sully the sheikhs project.
The theme of mystery is closely linked to the concept of Orientalism. Bayoumi (2012)
argues that Orientalism is alive and well in the movie full of cultural stereotypes, clichs
and exoticizations. She comes up with an Orientalist checklist against which the movie
portrays every Arabic stereotype: religious fundamentalists who engage in acts of terror
against the (sheikh) traitor for bringing in Western ways; pious Muslims praying en masse in
the open; veiled Arab women with soulful eyes (Figure 8); polygamous sheikh commenting
that he has too many wives not to know when a woman is unhappy (ibid). These
essentializations (ibid) reflect the Orientalist imaginations of Yemen and the Middle East
by Hollywood (Dodds, 2008), aided by the clichd Arabic-sounding speech and background
music in the movie. Occasionally jokes are inserted into these stereotypes, but sometimes
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they smack of mockery: Dr Jones, seeing the mass prayers, comments that I dont know
anyone that goes to church anymore on Sundays we go to Target
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.

Figure 8: Oriental Arabic women who look and dress exotically. Source: movie screenshot.
In contrast to the Oriental Other, Britain (particularly Scotland) is geographically
imagined as verdant, rural and reassuring. Much filming of salmon fishing was done in the
Scottish Highlands. The sheikh, owning several grand castles there, professes loving
beautiful, soothing Scotland, especially fishing in its waters. Yet he looks out-of-place fishing
in traditional garb (Figure 1) in grassy British countryside. Stereotypes of Scotland and the
Orient are conflated in a playfully hilarious way, with bearded men decked in both Arabian
kufiyeh
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and Scottish kilts greeting visitors (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Men decked in Arabic headscarf and Scottish kilts greeting Mrs Maxwell at the castle entrance. Source:
http://fishingintheyemen.com/assets/photos/image7.jpg

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Target is a discount supermarket chain in America; such a reference seems out-of-place for a British movie.
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Kufiyeh is a form of Arabian headgear.
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British sensibility meanwhile is subtly constructed in contrast with the ludicrous
project in Yemen and its (un-)believability. Every Briton who encounters the project finds it
ridiculous and absurd, including Mrs Maxwell, who supports the project only for the
governments PR benefits. Besides the projects unfeasibility, even Sheikh Muhammeds
source of wealth is suspect, as a reviewer noted: unlike the sheikhs of other oil-rich Arabian
states, where would his vast wealth come from, since Yemen has no oil (Metacritic, 2012)?
How then to afford such a gargantuan endeavour?
Lastly, the absence of certain non-British elements indicates the producers
subjective perceptions. As a British Hollywood film, it captures Britishness excellently: from
Dr Jones Scottish accent down to the protagonists constantly referring to each other
politely as Dr Jones and Ms Chetwode-Talbot (Stables, 2012). Yet where is America, or
the Yemeni government? Why is Britain, presumably Americas junior partner in the War on
Terror, playing lead role (Kettell, 2011) and being more concerned about PR than America?
This seems an exclusively British project to boost Anglo-Yemeni relations (not Western-
Yemeni or US-Yemeni), despite the fact that the Americans (not the British) started the
trouble in Afghanistan (not in Yemen!) leading to the British governments PR crisis. Like
many Bond movies, the producers construct an imaginary world in which Pax Britannia still
operates (Dodds, 2003:131), where other governments (American or Yemeni) do not exist.

Critiquing the Conduct of Public Relations
The other major highlight, and the prime target of satire in the film, is the pointed
and hilarious parody of the conduct of PR by the British government. Its comedic genre
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permits a parodying satire that takes irreverent pot-shots at the governments relentless
spin-doctoring and pursuit of positive scoop, being always on the look-out for feel-good
and human interest stories (IMDb, 2012b; Metacritic, 2012). As the tough-as-nails Mrs
Maxwell commands her staff, we need a good news story from the Middle East.
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Get on
with it (Stables, 2012). As Dodds (2008:479) elucidates, governments invest in
manufacturing particular visual moments, coming up with photo opportunities and
ensuring the entire spectacle (is) carefully stage managed. This movie mimics the
governments obsession with the visual perfectly, also playing on its cinematography to
capture this side-splittingly.
The film shows us the slapstick conduct of government affairs behind-the-scenes,
where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office press secretary has regular unfettered access
to the Prime Minister (PM) via instant messaging (IM), where key decisions are made
(Figures 10 & 11). The power Mrs Maxwell wields behind-the-scenes resonates in the movie.

Figures 10 (left) & 11 (right): The PM and Mrs Maxwell communicating via IM in the movie closing, plotting yet another
publicity stunt and deciding to redeploy the Foreign Secretary. Source: movie screenshot.

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This line best captures the governments mis-location of Afghanistan in the Middle East.
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The support of the British government for the lunatic project stems from the fact
that the sheikh is wealthy and a good friend of the West and the Party
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too. Mrs
Maxwell became even more excited upon the revelation that there are at least two million
anglers in the UK (IMDb, 2012b), desiring to use this project to endear the government to
fish-fanciers in Britain and paint the UK as sympathetic to Islamic culture (Tookey, 2012),
while forgetting that these fisher-folk would revolt at the governments attempts to remove
10,000 salmon from Scottish waters.

Figure 12: Mrs Maxwell asks the PM if he can fish; when Mrs Maxwell tells him there are 2 million voters who can fish, he
claims that he can fish too. Source: movie screenshot.
Unfortunately (but predictably), her plans backfired: the project made the news
(Figures 13 & 14), but for the wrong reasons, angering fishermen and environmentalists and
creating headache for the administration. Undeterred, she fabricates a bigger spectacle: Ms
Chetwode-Talbots boyfriend happens to be sole survivor of an Afghan military skirmish, and
Mrs Maxwell orchestrates a surprise lovers reunion (including the media) at the Yemeni
projects grand launch (Figure 15), allowing the Foreign Secretary in attendance air-time to
glorify Britains involvement in Afghanistan. Contemporary issues (Dodds, 2003) like concern
over British involvement in the Afghan war shape the storyline despite the tenuous link

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This refers to the ruling governments political party, though it is uncertain in the movie which party that is.
Nevertheless the novel author states that his book satirizes Blairs Labour government (Tookey, 2012).
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between Afghanistan and Yemen. The governments effort in manufacturing this spectacle
(by helicoptering the soldier in) (Dodds, 2008) shows the administrations desperation in
seeking positive news from the Middle East (where both Afghanistan and Yemen are seen
to reside side-by-side). Of course, the media are nonchalant when the Foreign Secretary
begins to speak (Figure 16). Nevertheless Mrs Maxwell perseveres, continuing to look for
new PR angles notwithstanding the medias snub of the Foreign Secretary (Figure 17) and
despite the terrorist attack on the Yemeni project causing a PR disaster (Figures 10 & 11).

Figures 13 (left) & 14 (right): Bad press about the contentious decision to remove 10,000 salmon fish from Scottish rivers.
Source: movie screenshot.

Figure 15 (left): Introducing Ms Chetwode-Talbot and her soldier-boyfriend to the press; Figure 16 (right): The press turn
away and talk amongst themselves when Foreign Secretary begins to speak. Source: movie screenshot.
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Figure 17: Mrs Maxwell constantly looking for PR angles in everything she does. Source: movie screenshot.

Conclusion
As Dodds (2008:476) asserts, films matter. In my analysis of Salmon Fishing in the
Yemen we witness the producers geographical and geopolitical imaginations of the places
represented, their disparagement of the governments unabashed conduct of PR, and how
the audience (whether anonymous online reviewers or film correspondents) matters: in
their interpretation of the movie and in their endorsement or disapproval. The power of the
film to communicate these messages (covert or blatant) requires that one adopts a critical
(geopolitical) eye to watching film so as to unpack these intentions and ask meaningful
questions. A reviewer writes, You (dont) have to actually like fishing, or understand it, to
enjoy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (IMDB, 2012b); similarly I claim that you do not have to
be an academic to be able to fish for geopolitics in film and in daily life.

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References
Bayoumi, S. (2012) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and the Orientalists Checklist [Online]
Available at: <http://sohabayoumi.blogspot.sg/2012/03/salmon-fishing-in-yemen-
and.html> [Accessed 14 October 2012].
Close-Up Film. (2012) Interview: Ewan Mcgregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked, and Paul
Webster In conversation about Salmon Fishing in the Yemen [Online] Available at:
<http://www.close-upfilm.com/2012/04/salmon-fishing-in-the-yemen-in-
conversation-with-ewan-mcgregor-emily-blunt-amr-waked-and-paul-webster/>
[Accessed 14 October 2012].
Dodds, K. (2003) Licensed to Stereotype: Popular Geopolitics, James Bond and the Spectre
of Balkanism, Geopolitics, 8, 2, 125-156.
Dodds, K. (2008) Have you seen any good films lately? Geopolitics, International Relations
and Film, Geography Compass, 2, 2, 476-494.
Hughes, R. (2007) Through the Looking Blast: Geopolitics and Visual Culture, Geography
Compass, 1, 5, 976-994.
IMDb. (2012a) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) [Online] Available at:
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441952/> [Accessed 13 October 2012].
IMDb. (2012b) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Reviews & Ratings [Online] Available at:
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441952/reviews> [Accessed 14 October 2012].
Kettell, S. (2011) Britain and the War on Terror Dr Steven Kettell Responds [Online]
Available at:
<http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/knowledge/themes/terror/britain/waronterror/>
[Accessed 14 October 2012].
Metacritic. (2012) Read User Reviews and Submit your own for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
[Online] Available at: <http://www.metacritic.com/movie/salmon-fishing-in-the-
yemen-2012/user-reviews> [Accessed 14 October 2012].
Rees, J. (2012) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen author Paul Torday: 'The Yemenis said, whats
all this about fish?' [Online] Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/8990545/Salmon-
Fishing-in-the-Yemen-author-Paul-Torday-The-Yemenis-said-whats-all-this-about-
fish.html> [Accessed 14 October 2012].
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. (2012) Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. UK: Lionsgate.
Sibley, D. (2009) Self-Other, in Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of
Human Geography, Elsevier, pp. 85-88.
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Stables, K. (2012) Reviews: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Sight and Sound, 22, 5, 79-80.
The Telegraph. (2012) Theres no salmon fishing in Yemen, tourist board warns [Online]
Available at:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/9241821/Theres-
no-salmon-fishing-in-Yemen-tourist-board-warns.html> [Accessed 14 October 2012].
Tookey, C. (2012) One mustnt carp at Salmon Fishing in the Yemen [Online] Available at:
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-2132373/One-mustnt-carp-
Salmon-Fishing-In-The-Yemen.html> [Accessed 14 October 2012].

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