East is East [1999 UK]

 

I am not confident with my writing skills but then I will try..

All my life I have always been watching movies and TV shows from Hollywood, but then the time came that I found myself searching for movies that are not from Hollywood. Movies that have something new to offer. Checking out the differences between movies from Hollywood and other countries. And here I am; hoping that I could write down properly my feedback about the movies I have seen and explain why other people must see it too.

East is East - one of the movies I have seen that is not from Hollywood. Actually, I have seen first the sequel West is West and since I enjoyed the movie I then decided to look for the first movie. And here it goes.


It is story of George (Muslim Pakistani) and Ella (Catholic British) living in UK. With their 6 sons and daughter. George wanted his off springs to embrace the Pakistani way but then how? if all of them were born and raised not in Pakistan? This movie surprised me as it managed to made me laugh right from the start. The movie starts with George watching the Catholic Procession, what he doesn't know was all his kids were included in the procession and even holding the statues of Christ and Mary - they had to take a different way to hide from their father. A nice way to start a movie, I must say.

The first born son Nazir, doesn't want an arrange marriage. And later on revealed to be a gay, well being gay is still being frowned upon on Muslims. Saleem, the engineering (?) student whose art works are about private parts of a woman. Tariq, the son who loves to go disco and in a relationship with the white girl next door. Meenah, the only girl but she is boyish. Sajid, the youngest son who always wear this jacket with hood. None of George's kids do speak URDU the national language of Pakistani.

In a way, the movie  managed for us to take a peek at the Pakistani Muslim traditional ways. Like the arrange marriage. In the movie, other Pakistani are criticizing George as his kids are more like of a British than Pakistani. But hello, where they are anyway? The movie showed the ups and downs of a marriage between 2 different nationalities/religion. What life is like when you are not in your own country.

Simple story and yet touching with lessons we can all learn.
This is worth watching. So if you are up to watching something new, why not give it a try?


Anyone who knows comedy films like this, feel free to suggest them to me.