The East

I generally get tired of films pushing politics throughout their story with all this left-wing, right-wing crap, that because of the focus of the group of people who make that type of film, so becomes an entanglement of an unnecessary debate with audiences and critics, that the film itself becomes lost. The East tells its message straight and clear and understands that most will agree with a majority of its ideas, but never loses sight of the story and the characters its wants to portray.

The East follows an operative for a PI firm who is handpicked to infiltrate an extreme anarchist group who focus their sights on major corporations for the crimes they have committed on humanity. I agree that that basic synopsis probably will make a few shy away from seeing it, but I don't believe anyone will come out of the film in a heated debate with the next person on its political issues, however timely. It has a great perspective instead on what we as individuals value most. It never allows itself to succumb to any political wash-over, but instead takes a side for the characters and where they stand as people that manages to invest us in the emotional elements rather than just straight ideals.

Brit Marling plays the operative at hand and also co-wrote the screenplay with up-and-comer, Zal Batmanglij. They both worked together and the equally excellent Sound of My Voice last year and its apparent that they have continued to build their ground in their respective fields, each finding a voice to be heard away from the mainstream flow.

The East is simply just a solid, taut and investing thriller that values telling the story of its characters, while keeping the political stance to the side and also having fun tangling the audience up its in web.

The East is the kind of movie that makes you want to join the fight, raise your voice and be heard.

The good. Extremely immersive. A incredible story with lots of emotions, conflicts, opposing moralities, and a stupefying journey. It is gripping and you will not be left unmoved.

The actors. Brit Marling and Ellen Page both give us a great performance. I was disappointed by Alexander Skarsgård, I thought that he was the weak player of the cast. The rest of the cell was pretty solid: Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Aldis Hodge, and Danielle Macdonald. And I should mention the nice work done by Patricia Clarkson as the director of the private security firm.

The bad. The ending is rushed. It feels like there was missing material at the end of filming and they couldn't go back to get what they needed and had to edit it with what they had.

The ugly. Nothing.

The result. A must see for anyone.

Without going into a lot of detail, this is the perfect movie for a summer day. And it just keeps on growing on you. The fact that there is another movie on this topic waiting to be made, well, that is often the case. The really exciting part of this is that Britt is not, drum roll, a star, but now she is. It can always be said that a film that is a stunning star vehicle for an actress, well, that only seems to come along every few years. And this ranks right at the top of those. Britt is not only beautiful and charismatic, but she obviously has a deep intelligence and creativity that is a perfect mix for this day and age. I say -rush out a see this, do not read about it, and try to remember one thing, great actresses are like great bottles of wine, they get better and better for a long time. Looking at what is coming for her, she is already very busy. And the fact that she hit this out of the park, is a great career lift off. Brit, this is your time.

The east is one of those movies the just fall from the tree, and when they fall you realize it is probably on of the best movies of the year. The fact some eco-terroristts decide to fight against large evil corporations(pharma,oil,coal etc.) makes the story even more interesting. Brit Marlin does a brilliant acting, being an undercover agent, but a human one, not one of those Hollywood super-heroes-I-save-the-world-again. The rest of the actors have a brilliant acting. If you want a "human" movie where intelligence and reality clash from start to finish, this is your movie, but remember to watch it slowly, so you can get the most of it.

Just saw this movie courtesy of the San Jose Camera Cinema Club. This is a well-acted, thought-provoking movie that asks many questions about the balance between the excesses of corporate America and the excesses of violent anarchist groups fighting against them. (Think Weather Underground and the SLA.) The protagonist is a young woman working for a top private security company in the Washington DC beltway on behalf of those corporations. She's assigned to infiltrate an anarchist group called "The East" to prevent damage to her company's corporate clients. The ensuing exposition of the anarchist group's actions ("jams") makes for a very suspenseful and credible movie with many plot twists and turns including the ending of the movie, which is diffused with the credits. Nothing is as it seems, just like a good spy movie ought to be. So go see the movie and don't leave until the credits finish rolling.