East Is East

This film depicts ultimate realism for people who have grown up in multi racial environments. The graphic nature of the language only goes to reinforce the raw acceptance of the cultural influence of the times and area in which the film is set (70's Manchester, England). The director has captured the emotional elements the script intended perfectly. It was obviously deeply researched. The character portrayal of the dominant father is by no means stereotypical of the part, but is truly based on the difficulties encountered by the respected head of any multicultural family. His six sons and one daughter are experiencing the natural mix of eastern and western influence and putting their own spin on their existence, much to their father's dismay. The character of the mother portrays the natural ethnic blindness that should be much admired and is yet so common throughout the world. The humor is very real. Every family, if they look back on their own historical events would come to recognise the similarity of the situations encountered. The work surely ranks among the very best in regional exposure along side the likes of "Kes" etc. Well worth watching more than once

Three teenagers are sitting in front of a TV, enjoying their large helpings of pork sausage and bacon. Suddenly they hear a door opening and immediately start cleaning up all of the dishes and unsuccessfully try to get rid of the fumes of grilled bacon and sausages that billowed through the whole house. This is, of course, not depicting the normal life of three teenagers, but taken from the film "East Is East" by Damien O'Donnell. It deals with the story of a family in England in the 1970s with a Pakistani father (multi-facetted enacted by Om Puri) who still believes in his Pakistani traditions and his Muslim religion and an English mother (great performance by Linda Bassett) who tries to give her seven children as much freedom as all of their "fully English" friends enjoy. This movie was labeled as a Comedy both in theaters and on DVD or VHS, but anybody looking for light-hearted entertainment fitting for a Saturday night will be hugely disappointed. This movie is out to teach the viewer about how difficult it is to get two very different cultures to not only co-exist peacefully next to each other, but to merge them to create a new one. The script by Ayub Khan-Din, who also wrote the book and the stage version of this movie, does have its funny moments, and the whole cast, including the children, is in for some good laughs. But the more intense moments are those where the viewer has to deal with outbursts of domestic violence or things like arranged marriages that seem so far away and cruel to Westerners. The cast shows its brilliance in those intimate moments. Even though the script might sometimes appear to be too ambitious – there are just too many characters all developing in a very distinct manner and all crucial to the movie – the movie can be recommended to anyone who is not looking for a standard comedy and is willing to have his views on life challenged.

"East is East"- another boring film we have to watch in our English lesson. These were my first thoughts when I heard that this film will be the next topic our English class has to deal with. But that is absolutely not the case! This film is a great enrichment for the viewer and it is no boring stuff at all.

Ayub Khan-Din wrote a fantastic script which is perfectly put into action by Damien O'Donnell. The cast members did a good job by giving their characters influences to link them into the right direction. For example Om Puri who played his complex character "George Khan" with such a conviction and even the youngest cast member Jordan Routledge who has absolutely not to hide behind his co-cast members in his performance of „Sajid Khan". Also the setting in the 70's is a big success so that you get the impression as if you are living within this time. Mostly I liked the way the writers handled the difficult topic of the different lifestyles of Pakistani and British people without speaking in favour for one group. They used a lot of prejudices about both cultures but they converted it into funny scenes everybody has to laugh about. So a good balance between comedy and tragedy is created because of the spontaneous comic relieves. The film gives a good opportunity for watching it for entertainment but also for talking seriously about it, like for example the two generations and their different points of view: On the one hand we can see the young generation of Sajid who does not care if his friend Earnest is a Pakistani or not. And also Tariq who does not want to be a devout Pakistani and likes partying all night even if his father gets angry about it. But on the other hand, there is the older generation of immigrants George belongs to which is extremely influenced by their traditional values and it is hard for them to adapt to the British society. It seems as if especially George does not learn from his mistakes: After the failed arranged marriage of eldest son Nazir, he tries to plan marriages for his sons Tariq and Abdul who are strongly against it. At the end, left alone from his family, George seems to be contemplative and Ella goes back to him for reconciliation. But the viewer does not get to know whether George changes his behaviour or not but you can still hope it! And that's why "East is East" is such an intoxicating movie: Everybody can identify with one of the characters and so you suffer with Ella when she is beaten up by her husband, you laugh with the siblings when they are teasing each other, you want to give them good advices and most importantly, you think about what you would have done in their situation.

So I can really recommend watching this movie because of the good balance of comical and tragically effects, the great actors and not to forget, the fantastic story written by a man who collected his first experiences by creating this script which was such a success.

Engaging, well-made comedy based on the play by Ayub Khan-Din concerning the misfortunes of an Anglo-Pakistani family verging on the brink of change in early 1970s Salford. Traditional dad Om Puri is shocked when his oldest son (Ian Aspinall) runs away from an arranged wedding, and decides that from now on his family will be more respectful. Among his plans are the weddings of two of his other sons, both of whom are far from delighted with the idea. Khan-Din's fine script never resorts to cliche resulting in a funny, study of the clash between the old and the new.

Linda Bassett as superb as Puri's second wife, an English woman who straddles both camps between her husband's traditionalism and her kids' sense of rebellion while nonetheless attempting to keep her own dignity.

Fine performances from Chris Bisson and Jimmi Harkishin (Coronation Street) and Jimi Mistry (EastEnders) while little Jordan Routledge is great as the parka-loving Sajid.

However, it's Puri who shines as the complex father, desperately trying to hang on to tradition and finding nothing but rebellion from his family.

The ending could easily have been a familiar family seeks revenge on their overbearing father but what results is a refreshing change to the many TV movies that usually opt for an easy solution to a difficult problem.

A bitter-sweet comedy with some moments of truly stark drama, this is a high-class movie. Yes, there are randy dogs and fat, ugly girls - but the piece is a class act because it mixes those "laugh-out-loud funny" comic set pieces with great drama so cleverly.

Very much a period piece, the movie is set in Salford in 1971 - a telling time for a part-Pakistani family with Enoch Powell's shadow never too far away and the break-away of East Pakistan (Bangladesh-to-be)unravelling as the film goes on. The poverty of 1971 Salford with the outside toilet, bedpans and tin bath is excellently portrayed. And at a more mundane level, the constant sight of a bright orange space-hopper and its comedic demise is truly nostalgic, especially to this reviewer whose own space-hopper suffered a similar fate around 1971.

Superb acting performances all round - Linda Bassett used to be one of the better-kept secrets on the UK stage, but now I suppose the secret is out. Highly recommended movie.