East Is East

source: East Is East

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.

Excellent film of interracial family, traditions versus the contemporary and chartering somewhere in the middle ground. I was somewhat dubious about the way EAST IS EAST was touted as a comedy, seemingly about horny teenagers and adolescent rebellion against parental authority. I thought, Oh Lord, the Americans have a lock on this type of flick, and now the British want in, too. Then, I saw Om Puri's name as the lead. I have been a longtime fan of this amazing actor, and thought, well it's worth a look. Wow! What a captivating, interesting and at times, humorous film. I found it unpretentious and unflinching, and marvelously human, which is where the humor rested. The mingling of cultures, and those becoming an amalgamation of the two, lead to uproarious clashes sometimes. The wishes, well in this case, the demands of the draconian father for his children, and the reality in which they live clearly head for confrontation. The screenplay by Ayub Khan-Din is a great slice of life; it's certainly wasn't hard to tell that he might have culled some of the notions included from life experience. It's not meant to be exacting, as some have criticized. No more so, than Laura Ingalls Wilder's "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE" was meant to be a strictly historical factoid on pioneering life in the early western US. It's meant as a slice of it, of one persons vision or interpretation. EAST IS EAST is extraordinary, a marvel to watch, and one that simply gets better with each viewing. Don't miss this one. Highly recommended.

Another waste of time. I watched and wondered what all the hype was about. I paid full price for this film when it hit the shelves and after watching it, I felt like I had been mugged. I couldn't see anything funny about it. I mean...why am I actually bothering to review this rubbish. It must be because I am trying to save some people from wasting their time and hard earned cash buying this junk. Just to set the picture and this is no word of a lie - I actually GAVE MINE AWAY!!! Says it all really. Please don't watch as it will feel like you were sucked into the black hole with nothing surrounding you and knowing you were gonna starve to death. PS. I think they should put a TOXIC sign on the cover!

Being a Pakistani, I was pretty geared up when I heard about a film about Pakistani people, though I had my reservation knowing that it was a British film, and I was probably the first customer to rent `East is East' when it arrived to a video rental store near my house. And boy was I disappointed! I've very rarely found British comedy films exciting and ‘East is East' is no exception. The last one I saw was Blue Juice and it was even worse than this. Why Britain continues to produce amazing actors and actresses (Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet etc.) and fail to produce great filmmakers is beyond my comprehension. `East and East' could have very easily been an engaging sentimental drama about a Pakistani immigrant and his family trying to cope in a foreign culture. But instead it is an obscene and vulgar comedy that makes mockery of Pakistanis in particular and muslims in general. All the characters that belonged to Pakistan, be it George Khan, Mr. Shah or all those Pakis George meet in Bradford (or is it Bradistan?) were stupid, ill mannered and devoid of any common sense. If that was not enough, they all were cruelly ignorant to the feelings of their families. Character of Om Puri (George Khan) is very uni-dimesional. He is, ignorant, cruel, violent and doesn't seem to give a damn about anyone of his family. Never once do we see him talking nicely to anyone of his seven kids. Minnah was the only daughter among six sons, that should have made at least her an apple of his eye, or like many other of their misconceptions about Islam and Pakistan, the filmmakers thought that all Pakisatnis think less of their daughters than their sons? Throughout the film we hear that he wants the good for his children and never once does he talks politely to them? And was he blind or something to marry his oh-so handsome sons with such ugly looking girls? What was the director's message? That if u grow up in a Pakistani environment like Mr. Shah's daughter's did, u turn up like that? One more thing, in the wedding sequence at the beginning of the film, we hear `Allah Ho' played in the background. It was my first experience of hearing a mystical song on a wedding! Even the most radical families of Pakistan tends to sing certain traditional wedding songs and George's family was from Punjab where they have probably thousands of songs for this particular occasion only. Lack of knowledge Mr. Director? Or was it your unfathomable British sense of humor? The only commendable thing about the film is acting. Everybody has given a decent performance and it is useless to elaborate on how great an actor Om Puri is! The accent, the language, the facial expression were simply superb. I wish if only it had been for a better film. `East is East' is disappointing in every sense and to know that it has been rated as one of the finest British comedies ever made only suggests the standard of the British cinema.

(This review may contain some minor spoilers.) My past experiences of British films depicting Pakistani culture have been highly disappointing. So I wasn't really surprised when I saw "East is East" going the same route. In this age of political correctness, this film openly lambastes Pakistani culture and its beliefs. "East is East" could have been a very engaging, thought provoking sentimental drama about a Pakistani immigrant and his mixed race family struggling to cope with each other. But instead it is an offensive, obscene and crass comedy. The comedy has almost childishly been created at the expense of Pakistani values, which happen to be different than those of the film makers. It could even have been amusing, if this depiction were balanced, but unfortunately, this film just projects a one sided and highly biased viewpoint. All the Pakistani characters are portrayed as stupid, ignorant and devoid of any common sense. Om Puri plays (George Khan) a Pakistani immigrant living in Manchester in the early seventies. Although he acts superbly, his characterization is extremely one-dimensional. His very name, spells out the film makers' ignorance. No self respecting fundamentalist (as George is portrayed to be) would ever call himself George!!! He is portrayed as an ignorant, vicious, heartless and violent wife basher who has utterly no regard for any of his seven children. George is married to the white, English Ella, yet we are asked to believe that he is a traditionalist and wants to uphold his extreme religious beliefs. Not once is he shown expressing love and concern for his children. Instead, he is portrayed as a despot slave driver who is willing to whip up anybody who dares to confront him at the slightest provocation. The most ridiculous premise is that we are actually asked to believe that his children who are all in their late teens to mid twenties, (except Sajid) accept this reign of tyranny until the very last reel!!! The film would have been more intelligent if George Khan were shown as an intelligent manipulator. That at least would have been more convincing. The film makers sadly have numerous misconceptions about Islam and Pakistan and in their zest to pass it of as comedy, some totally unbelievable situations are injected such as the sequences involving watches with Arabic inscriptions. Moreover, only a blind father would be willing to marry his good-looking sons with hideous, unsightly girls in the name of culture and tradition. Perhaps the director implied that children raised in a Pakistani environment like Mr. Shah's daughters, turn out to be dull, dumb and grossly obese. The only commendable factor in this film is acting by a cast of virtual unknowns. Almost all actors have given decent performances with Om Puri once again establishing his prowess as an exceptional actor. Strong performances in particular from Ella (Linda Basset), Tariq (Jimi Mistry) and Saleem (Chris Bisson) help keep the film afloat. Jordan Routledge as the youngest son Sajid also deserves a special mention. The script by Ayub Khan-Din unfortunately, lacks authenticity and spells out extreme prejudice suggesting that any culture other than the western way of life is loathsome, silly and laughable! The fact that this film has been hailed as one of the finest British comedies ever made, only suggests the criterion of the British cinema. George's values are high voltage even by the standards of the most radical families in Pakistan. To accept that he wants these beliefs thrust upon his mixed blood family living in Manchester is nothing but an insult to the audience's intelligence.

Save your money. The movie isn't worth the price of the ticket. Billed as a comedy, it turns out to be a long, relentlessly uninteresting story of an abusive old Pakistani patriarch in Manchester, England, thirty years ago. Are we interested? No. Do we care? No.

It's not that the film isn't funny - although it isn't (intentionally); it's not that it isn't dramatic (it's certainly melodramatic). It is simply that when it's not being absurd it's being offensive, when it's not being offensive, it's being risible; all the time, it's being simply INCOMPETENT to the point of dementia. The acting is abysmal, especially Om Puri who acts like he's in a Victorian melodrama, and Linda Bassett, who acts like she's in a poor episode of On the Buses. It's just monumentally cack-handed in every way, made by people who seem never to have watched a film in their life before. Another crock of rubbish from the British film industry.

Imagine that you are the producer of East is East, a fairly standard drama about a husband abusing his wife and children in 1970's Britain. Not many box office returns, eh? So the producer has the bright idea of introducing sub-American Pie slapstick (dogs attempting to rape girls, sculptures of vaginas etc) to bring it to a wider audience, while still 'staying true' to the original play. Oh, and as a bonus, it has a 'comedy' Asian father who may beat his wife and sons, but whose vocabulary is limited to comic obscenities. Hilarious! Please do not see this film. It is abysmal beyond belief.