Psst this is my fortieth review. I’m over the hill now!
’’East is East’’ is based on the play by Ayub Khan-Din. He wrote it using incidents from his own life. And it shows! This is one of the few movies I have seen that directly speaks to me. No matter who you are, you will be able to relate to the characters in this movie.
George Khan(Om Puri) migrated from Pakistan to England in 1947, leaving his wife behind. After coming to England he fell in love with and married an Englishwoman(Linda Basset). They had seven kids: Nazir(Ian Aspall), Munir, Tariq(Jimi Mistry), Abdul(Raji James), Salim, Meena(Archie Panjabi; she also portrays Parminder Nagra’s older sister Pinky in Bend it Like Beckham), and Sajid.
One of the first scenes shows Nazir, the eldest son, preparing for his nikaah. He almost goes through with an arranged marriage... before panicking and running out of the room. George, of course, disowns him.
Salim is supposed to be an engineering student but is actually an art student. His character is supposed to be a spoof of modern art I guess. In one of the really funny scenes, his sculpture(’’ a symbol of the exploitation of women’’) ends up in the lap of a visitor.
Munir is a devout Muslim who spends a lot of time praying; his brother Tariq derisively calls him ’’Gandhi’’ and thinks of him as a goody goody. In spite of the fact that he is very traditional, it is obvious that, like his siblings, Munir cannot relate to his father. Munir’s role helps to illustrate that ’’East is East’’ isn’t about culture clash as much as it is about one man’s selfishness.
Tariq aka tony (Jimi Mistry) is the most openly rebellious one in the family. He is as stubborn as George. Although I could sympathize with Tariq most of the time it seemed like his character was a little selfish. He initially takes out his rebellion on the wedding clothes and his mother instead of the real culprit: his father. Later on however he does face George.
Raji James does a wonderful job as my favorite character, Abdul. Abdul lights up every scene he is in and is especially funny when he goes to a nightclub with Tariq. An all around good guy, he is normal to a fault and is an anachronism in this completely crazy group of people. Along with his mother, Abdul is the compromiser in his family. As Tariq, Jimi Mistry wasn’t too bad, but I don’t see why Jimi Mistry got a bunch of lead roles in other movies after East is East, while Raji James practically disappeared.
Meena(Archie Panjabi), the only sister and a complete tomboy, is probably in middle school.
Sajid is an adorable twelve-year-old who never takes off his parka. He may seem innocent but underneath his hood he is sinister and slick...or so he thinks. In one of my favorite scenes, the movie plays the song ’’Chaudvin ka Chand’’ and then cuts to Sajid, in his dirty coat, asleep in the moonlight. Seemingly insignificant scenes like this make East is East the movie that it is. Munir, Salim, Tariq, and Meena are perpetually tickling, pinching, or tackling Sajid. Except for the occasional pat on the head, Abdul doesn’t torment him much.
It’s obvious that although they are not very close to their father, Munir, Salim, Tariq, Meena, Sajid, Nazir, and Abdul are pretty close to each other. When Tariq runs away, Abdul tries to stop him. Tariq then ends up hauling Meena and Salim with him, and of course they ’’run away’’ to Nazir, who drives them back home in a Rolls Royce.
Linda Basset portrays their mother, a woman perpetually torn between trying to satisfy her seven children and her husband. She has been married to George for twenty-five years and works at his fish-and-chip shop every day from eight in the morning until twelve at night. This is what makes the way she is treated --in one of the last scenes in the movie-- so shocking
This movie is primarily about the father. Om Puri pulls off one of the best performances of his career as an ambigous character. He starts out as being a bumbling, comic traditional father figure who wants his kids to be good Pakistanis(think about the father in ’’Fiddler on the Roof’’).He can’t speak normal English--but he can cuss in English with amazing proficiency. Although he himself married an English woman, he expects his sons to marry two horrendously ugly Pakistani girls. In spite of what happened with Nazir, George will do anything--even resort to physical violence--to make his sons marry these girls and be more obedient in general. However his children actually are pretty obedient to begin with. Even Tariq shows up to meet his probable in-laws and behaves himself. Unfortunately George only knows how to talk with his fists. George’s personality doesn’t just take on shades of gray--it becomes completely black--before being humanized again. Although he does become the villain at the end, he never completely loses his humanity. The director does a much better job of managing this transition than I am doing of describing it. I felt the ending was too generous with George. One scene in particular highlights George’s hypocrisy and self-centeredness. As George threatens Tariq with a knife, Tariq says, ’’I’ll marry a Pakistani.’’ ’’Good’’ George barks. ’’...and then I’ll marry a bloody English woman as well. Just like my father’’ Tariq says.
This movie is one of those that gets better and better every time you watch it. My review doesn’t even begin to do justice to this movie, but the movie was so good I just had to write about it.
However, there are some flaws (ominous music). Yeah right. Some flaws. The cultural gap between England and America does act as somewhat of a detractor. It took me a while to understand the British accent and phrases like ’’Get stuffed’’. And I felt that some of the jokes were way too crude. I don’t know--maybe it’s just the British sense of humor. I read somewhere that Americans normally don’t ’’get’’ British jokes, so that probably explains it. Also I will warn you--there are some violent scenes.
But I’m splitting hairs. I never realized how pathetic ’’American Desi’’, ’’ American Chai’’, ’’ABCD’’, ’’Bend it like Beckham’’, and ’’Leela’’ were until I saw ’’East is East’’. Those movies are NOTHING compared to this masterpiece. This movie made me laugh. It made me cry. You HAVE to see East is East.
comments are welcome