Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

yasinkozak The movie East is East was directed by Damien O'Donnelland it was released in 1999. This movie has many cultural motives related cultural clashes of Pakistani people in Britain and British people. In this paper, traditions, customs, habits and beliefs represented in the movie will be discussed. East is East sets in Britain. It tells a story of a Pakistani man named George Khan and his family. When he came to Britain, he didn't have even luggage, he says. He was already married that time, as it is mentioned in the movie. However, he got married to a British woman named Ella. They have their own shop where they sell chips and they live in a small apartment. They have 7 children, 6 boys and 1 girl. There are several cultural aspects showing that the family is patriarchal like many other eastern families. His children are afraid of him and they call him Ghengis Khan. Genghis Khan was an oriental brutal king. That nickname shows how he is strict about the way how his children should be raised. He is a very religious Muslim and he wants to raise his children according to Islamic teachings. For example, he wants his kids to read Quran and go to mosque on a regular basis. Also, he wants his youngest son to be circumcised against his will. He afraids that if they act like English people, they will be corrupted. Also, his biggest dream is to see all his children married with someone from Pakistani families. His elder son rejects this marriage and on the day of wedding and the father disinherits him. Starting from that day, he says his elder son is dead. The mother, Ella is affectionate and secretly she and her other children makes phone call to talk to him. After that, He keeps arranging family meetings with other Pakistani families to arrange any engagements for his grown children's marriage. However, children are not aware of all these meetings. For example, his two sons Salim and Tariq will be engaged with two daughters of a Pakistani man called Mr Shah. However, they don't want to marry Pakistani girls and they already have English girlfriends, but they just can't tell their father about this. His wife, Ella, can't stop him being so harsh on their sons and daughter. Towards the end of the movie, George beats his wife because she doesn't listen to his decisions. That is a very strong and clear implication of a patriarchal family. The kids can't help or protect their mother because they are also afraid of George. This fear creates a hate towards their father as Tarıq, one of his sons, talks behind his father harshly. However, his mother warns him by saying that even though George did something wrong and he is guilty, he is their father and it is also wrong to talk badly about George. This shows a submissive woman figure in Islamic societies. Even though Ella is not a Muslim, George, who is Muslim, is considered to be the patriarch and breadwinner of the family. There are also some patterns representing how Pakistani people arrange their weddings and how they decide where the new-married couple will live. As aforementioned, George wants his sons, Tarıq and Salim, to marry 2 girls from a Pakistani family. When this family comes over their home two sides talk about a tradition suggesting that newly-married couples should stay with the groom's family after the wedding. Secondly, during their wedding, Pakistani people wear colourful special dresses. Adult men wear skullcap, which they may wear daily as well. To conclude, the movie East is East is a great work of art. It is informative as it represents Islamic values, traditions and Pakistani culture from many perceptions especially the family life and social structure of these societies with the combination of an environment, Britain, to which these values are strange.

Andy Howlett This is a beautifully-made, bittersweet comedy drama with much to say about integration, the clash of cultures and the hierarchy within families, no matter what colour or culture they happen to be. I first saw this film soon after its release and since then I've probably watched it four or five times. Every time it appears on TV I find I am unable to resist it's wry humour and incisive social comment. There are some hilarious moments (such as the scene with the rather rude sculpture).It packs an enormous emotional punch for such a low budget production and puts many star-studded movies that have attempted to tell the same story to shame.

lasttimeisaw Aka. FISH & CHIP, a UK film whose plot hinges on a Pakistani family living in UK, the patriarch is a traditional chauvinist whose only tenet is to do everything in Pakistani Muslim ways, while the mother is English, with 7 children, the cultural collision and marriage-defiant headaches begin to aggravate the family, and finally ends with a drolly amusing farce. From Irish director Damien O'Donnell (his debut feature), this film emanates a great sense of humour (never pull it off overhead) and a whiff of theatrical commotion when the storyline needs it, supplying career-best leading roles from both Om Puri, who is deft in embodying himself into a highly unlovable character even without any preach-the-converted statement, and Linda Bassett as the chafing-yet-united parent, imaginably with 7 offspring (6 boys and 1 girl, age ranging from 6 to 25) to coping with, the familial disarray can dissuade many chic couples from children-rearing quandary, not counting there is a bigger hurdle standing in front of them, the religious disparity, Puri is an out-and-out Pakistani, even living in England, has an English wife (which is his second one while his first wife is still living in Pakistan), he rebuffs any discord and claims absolute submission from his family members, as long as he is still the man-of-the-house, even resorting to domestic violence when things are out of his control. As the most-of-the-time pliant, sometimes witty, but complete sympathetic mother, Bassett has her gut to fight back for her children, and her performance does has an effect of sublimating the heightened tension and brings about some excellent empathy which sharply differs from a general comedic tonality. All seven progeny and a handful supporting roles are molded with distinctive personalities (with many laughable episodes to entertain the viewers). So, about the aforementioned preach-the-converted argument, the film can be a tint offensive to portray Pakistani people in a quasi-teasing milieu (the two Pakistani maidens are rather wickedly selected), it seems the film is assuming the audience should already taken their stand (against the abominably bigoted father figure), clearly the truth is this fictional approach opts for its own British slant towards the Muslim immigrants, it may find its voice in the island, but elsewhere, its acceptance inevitably needs to be tested under the surface of its light-hearted masquerade. PS: My Oscar entry, Linda Bassett storms at No.6 in the BEST LEADING ACTRESS category.

TheLittleSongbird East is East, a culture-clash comedy set in the 1970s is a great film. It is thoroughly accessible, and while it never takes itself too seriously, it still manages to be a funny, charming, poignant and refreshing film. It does start off a little slow, but the performances, script and story more than make up for it. The script is constantly funny, yet has a sense of poignancy as well, and the story is surprisingly compelling about Asian integration in Britain.And the performances are really very strong, Om Puri especially gives a powerful one as the patriarch of the family, while he loves his family very much the tradition he is part of makes him a very strict father. Linda Bassett is great as his wife, and out of the equally strong younger performances, Jimi Mistry really stands out. The boys yearn for freedom, and are resistant to the life their father wishes them to lead.All in all, great film that breaks the mould for films similar to it. 8/10 Bethany Cox