east is not east as for as the movie is considered

Production Year: 1999 - Drama - Director: Damien O'Donnell - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over more

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Set in the early 1970s, EAST IS EAST, directed by Damien O'Donnell, follows the lives of a Pakistani-English family living in Northern England. George Khan (Om Puri), a proud...
more...Pakistani immigrant, and his British wife, Ella (Linda Bassett), run a fish and chip shop, while raising their seven children. George is determined to honor Pakistani tradition by arranging marriages for each of the children, whether they like it or not. When the Khan kids, including the nightclubbing Tariq (Jimi Mistry), the artsy Saleem (Chris Bisson), and the shy, parka-wearing Sajid (Jordan Routledge), begin to rebel against their forceful father, their mother also joins the household mutiny. During an awkward nuptial arrangement meeting with the snobby Shahs and their two unappealing daughters, the family's conflict hits its peak with surprising results.
With his first feature film, O'Donnell convincingly recreates the 1970s setting and carefully avoids glossing over the Khan family's difficulties. Puri and Bassett are excellent as the well-meaning parents, while Routledge is particularly charming as the reclusive youngest son. A quirky comedy that doesn't shy away from tense drama, EAST IS EAST is a truly unique film.

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east is not east as for as the movie is considered

A review by Zaheer_Iqbal on East Is East DVD
July 30th, 2001

Author's product rating: East Is East DVD - rated by Zaheer_Iqbal

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	On the whole, I think this movie is entertaining for the westren moviegoer .
Disadvantages:	The lack of research results in a complete misrepresentation of pakistani and Islamic values and morals, which may be successful in amusing some westren audiences .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Damien O' Donnell's directorial debut "EAST IS EAST" is certainly a rarity among the British Film Industry. The film tries to capture the life of an immigrant family from Pakistan which settles in Salford, England in the early 70's. "East is East" is based on writer Ayub Khan Din's sell-out play, and both fail to portray true Pakistani life in England.
It is a comedy drama that successfully relies on focccusing on certain aspects of "Pakistani" life in a lopsided manner.
The main portion of the movie focuses on George's life with his 7 children one of those (obviously the eldest) flees from his wedding ceremony as he is expected to marry a Pakistani woman with absolutely no prior knowledge of who she is or what she looks like. Their lives revolve around engaging in "non-Pakistani" activities when George is not around.
All of the children are portrayed as helpless and tormented who have to ope with a father who apparently has no arguments for his beliefs. His argument seems to be, "Pakistani life is a good life".
The children grow up midst a phenomenal amount of confusion and chaos. They see a menacing double standard in their father's behavior.
The movie successfully uses a lot of comedic gimmicks to maintain the viewer's interest.
The movie stars to lose interest of the sub continental crowd after 10 minutes oof George's portrayal as a mindless, tyrannical and temperamental Pakistani head of family.