SoftInloveRox
Horrible, fascist and poorly acted
Rio Hayward
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Sammy-Jo Cervantes
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
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.
madhatter1954
I decided to register my vote on this film because I was surprised to see that it had scored so low. One person stated this was "a fairly standard drama", which smacks to me of Jane Austen and Midsomer Murders, although it is probably the most "untypical" drama I have ever seen. What I had found to be a delightful and poignant portrayal of "a personal experience" of life in a mixed race marriage in England's 1970's, has been lambasted by some very narrow minded critics on IMDb. I therefore went on to research the writer of the film and if you want to check it out for yourself go to http://english.emory.edu/Bahri/Khan1.html If, having looked at Ayub Khan-Din's own comments, the people who have scored a "1" for this film still believe that this is a "skillfully made racist movie" or that "In this age of political correctness, this film openly lambastes Pakistani culture and its beliefs", perhaps they should look again from an "insider's" point of view. ..."This was our Pakistani life; this is how we existed outside Salford. A life none of my friends knew or could understand...I think in 'East is East' I came as close as possible to understanding my father's motivation in the way he tried to bring us up," ………"The parents are drawn directly from my own family." A less "standard drama" you would be hard pushed to find!
DesbUK
At 90 minutes, East is East doesn't outstay it's welcome. The film won the 1999 BAFTA for Best British Film and began life as a play at London's Royal Court two years earlier. It's a comedy drama set in Salford in the very grim North of England 1971. And if you're in a working class Anglo-Pakistani household it's doubly so. The Khans live in a back-to-back terrace house with an outdoor toilet (the production design here is terrific, it really does make the past a foreign country)and run the family chip shop.The film recalls another English movie from 1969 called 'Spring and Port Wine' - the northern working class family, the children wanting to break away from the grip of a tyrannical father. The father is George, played splendidly by Om Puri, the Pakistani father of a family who he doesn't realise are English: they're sausage and bacon eating English, with sons who booze and go to discos and one of whom has a white girlfriend and responds to the prospect of an arranged marriage with "I'm not marrying a f**king Paki".The whole cast is excellent - especially Archie Punjabi and Jimi Mistry - with Linda Bassett quite outstanding as Ella, George's English wife. She looks as if she's had 7 children. She's beaten up by George at one point, but remains devoted to her family throughout. She's a gem.
