East Is East DVD > Reviews > Socio-religious diversity...an an anorak

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	It makes a good point .  .  .
Disadvantages:	.  .  . but not very well

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

With a supporting cast blent of characters from East Enders and Coronation Street in equal measures, this is a strange film that purports to be a comedy but really is not. It's a disturbing film that concentrates on Patriarchal Islamic beliefs and how they affect a family that entertains vividly antagonistic lifestyles. The central plot sees Om Puri's character endeavour to raise his children as traditional Muslims. His despotic efforts are thwarted when his eldest son runs out on his arranged marriage, and it's a clash of stubborn resolutions from then on. One cannot help but notice how the film sides with the children. The father benefits a little from Deborah Mollison's sweetly sympathetic score, but I could not shake my overall conviction that a film pretending to tell a two-sided story seems to do so from only one side.

Certain scenes show the culture clash in a light-hearted way, such as Meenah (Archie Panjabi) disco dancing along to Pakistani music, but for the most part it's a troubling film in which the comic moments provide only short-lived relief. The only sense we get that it's intended as an all-out comedy comes towards the end, when George Khan's (Puri) sons meet their prospective brides. In this wonderfully well-crafted farce we get a true sense of the film maker's wit. It's not enough, though, to save the film from being a thought-provoking drama. And while that's never a bad thing in this age of special effects and no story, one doesn't expect domestic violence when one is promised a rip-roaring comedy. It's highly watchable, but it's not what it purports to be. And the danger is that people will watch it for the wrong reasons and not appreciate its message. On the other hand, it will also reach an audience that it otherwise would not touch were it sold as "drama". So I guess I'll let that go.