Last night I watched East is East, one of my all time favourite films. East Is East is a 1999 British comedy-drama film, written by Ayub Khan-Din and directed by Damien O'Donnell. It is set in a British household of mixed-ethnicity, with a British Pakistani father and an English mother in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 1971. George Khan (played by Om Puri), the father, expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani ways, but his children who were born and have grown up in Britain increasingly see themselves as British and reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.



It's so funny had us all in stitches.

I noticed some interesting use of shots to add to the genre of comedy, for example the point of view shot when Saj is looking out from his hood which, he never takes off ("that bleedin parker"). They must have put a fluffy trimming around the camera to make it look as though the camera is Saj and is seeing what he see's. It stood out to me as it is the only point of view shot footage they used in the film, and I really liked it. Simple but funny.

The mise-en-scene used throughout the film shows the that they are in fact not a particularly well off family. For example the small tin tub they use a bath and the buckets they use as toilets. Also at one point the camera zooms in to a small plate of biscuits that the mother has put on the table, whilst calling her 5 adult children to come down for breakfast, again adding to to the comedy genre. There is great contrast shown between the two different cultures. The father George (who carries a strong Pakistani accent with a hint of Manchester) insists on buying his sons traditional Pakistani clothing, and when this side of the culture is shown there are lots of bright festive colours in their costume and traditional Pakistani music (non diegetic) played.

The parents both have a very strong vision of themselves. The father, George, wants his children to be accepted by the Muslim community and live by its rules and customs. Ella, has agreed to this on her marriage but is still herself a Catholic and has influenced her children with her ideas. In contrast to the Pakistani culture the British culture is also shown throughout the film. Ironically George owns a fish and chip shop called 'The English Chippy'. Perhaps you would expect him to own a Pakistani restaurant with his strong views and passion for his religion.

The certificate of the film is 15 and this is likely due to some nudity and mostly the strong language, mainly coming from the father George, "bastard bitch", "bloody fucking idiot" etc. However because the swearing is used all through the film it becomes part of their general use of language and so we get used to it. It's just funny and used in a light hearted way.