East is Best

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 Best

A review by da_musicman on East Is East DVD
July 11th, 2000

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

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

Advantages:	Funny and Poignant
Disadvantages:	Bad Langugage

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I originally only went to see this as it wasn't possible to go and see The Sixth Sense and I was glad that I did.

I don't normally watch kitchen sink dramas but this time i made an exception and the film was exceptional.I'd read good reviews of it and I was not disappointed.

The cast all did a brilliant job and specila praise must go to Om Puri for his depictation of the father who could so easily have fallen into a stereotype.

Some may see it as an asian film but if so they are doing the film and themselves a great disservice. It is a film about the divide between the generations. The divide between tradition and modernism.

The film was very funny and i almost burst a blood vessel laughing at points but it also had a serious side and these were bothe handled well which is unusual for a film. Most can only mange laughs or heartache not both.

A wonderful film which deserves to be seen by all.