East Is East [VHS]

Dieser Film ist eine spitzen Komödie in der besten britischen Tradition. Die Alltagsprobleme im Londoner Eastend werden kombiniert mit den kulturellen Herausforderungen einer Familie zwischen pakistanischer (islamischer) Kultur und westeuropäischen Werten. Absolut empfehlenswert ist aber nur die engl. Fassung wie so oft, wegen des nicht übersetzbaren Wortwitzes.

Engl. Fassung mit engl. UT gibts (ebenfalls sehr günstig) bei Amazon UK! Der Versand aus England ist übrigens für DVDs nicht so rasend teuer...

'East is East' is about the life of a British/Pakistani- family, who lives in Salford in 1971. This family is 'dominated' by the Pakistani father George Khan (Om Puri) , who has a British wife, called Ella (Linda Bassett), and seven children: Nazir (Ian Aspinall) , an homosexual, Abdul (Raji James), Tariq (Jimy Mistry), Manner (Emil Marwa), the artist Saleem (Chris Bisson), who shall be an engineer, the tomboy Meenah (Archie Panjabi) and the little sweet Sajid (Jordan Routledge), who hides himself in his sweaty parka. These children prefer the ways of their mother to the traditional behaviour of their father. The consequence is the upraising of the children against their father, who reacts with violence and aggression against. The film ends with the escalation of the families` problems.
George is proud of being Pakistani and he tries to upraise his children in a traditional muslim way. They shall respect the religion. The conflict is growing with the attempts of the father to arrange marriages for his sons. But the children are more interested in mixed marriages, bacon- sandwiches and the night- time visits in pubs. The eldest son Nazir moves out of the house, filled with anger. He is supposed to marry a Pakistani woman who he has never seen before. Furthermore the double- marriage of Tariq and Abdul burst. Only Maneer seems to respect the religion. Ella has a calming influence, but she suffers under her violent husband. Nevertheless, she is torn between her love for George and her love for her children, who she tries to protect nearly every time.
So the viewer can see how the film deals with serious aspects, but however, it is a comedy and one has to laugh a lot! I think the film- remake of 'East is East' is a success- also because of the stylistic film elements like music (sing alongs), interesting camera angles and movement as well as the fact that 'East is East' is a personal movie of the screenwriter Ayub Khan- Din. The play is based on his own life and experiences growing up in multicultural, working- class background: He is also originally from Salford and the parents are a true reflection of his own parents. Furthermore, he 'is' the youngest son Sajid.
Ayub Khan- din had to leave school at the age of 16 and worked as a hairdresser. But he dreamed of becoming a screenwriter. At first, he tries to become an actor, but he had a lot of problems because of his colour. Finally 'East is East' was of crucial importance for his success as screenwriter. He made this film because he wanted to understand his past. Ayub Khan- Din received criticism from traditional members of the Asian society because they interpreted this movie as an attack of the Pakistani cultures. Ayub Khan- Dib rejected this reproach by saying that he portrays his father, who isn't a typical Pakistani. So he wasn't writing about Pakistani families in general.
At first sight the film can be strange and one can be shocked. So the viewer will have to be motivated to work with it. But then one finds out that the film deals with the loss of cultural identity, the complicated definition of home for the second generation of immigrants, the rebellion against the father, the clash of culture and in general the problems of immigration. Nevertheless, it is an emotional film. Furthermore it shows that a woman can be the real boss in a family without being feministic. Besides the actors provoke sympathy and pity. I think that the end, which I like, is very important: the children and the mother stick together. After a dispute, Ella makes clear that one can negate everything- but not the own family.
So, do you like that? Do you like comedies with a hint of tragic? Then: take some time and watch the film. It is funny and you probably don't have to work with it: watch it and have fun!
S. Will

"East is East" is about a Family in Salford with a Pakistani man and an English woman. They have seven children and their mother wants to educat them Christain, but their father wants his Children to be good Muslims...
The film is a comedy and full of jokes on the one hand but on the other hand it is full of feeling, about the problems between the mother and the father. They symbolosize the English and the Pakistani culture.
I specially liked the conversations between the characters and the performers are really good, too.
So I think this film is really remarkable.