In early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children.In early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children.In early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children.
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 16 wins & 14 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe drawing of a penis with a foreskin that Saleem shows his brothers and sister proved unexpectedly difficult. Chris Bisson can't draw so an artist was commissioned to sketch the object in question, but upon seeing the finished result, it was quickly decided that it looked too odd. It transpired that the artist was in fact circumcised and had no familiarity with foreskins, so the cast and crew were asked if anyone could draw and would like to volunteer his penis. Fortunately, one of the set photographers fit both requirements.
- GoofsIn the film they constantly use the term "shillings" when referring to prices and money. Britain adopted the pounds and pence decimal system on 15 February 1971, and over the next year or two ditched the shilling and pence currency. In the film's opening scene the caption reads "Salford, Manchester, 1971," and after the eldest brother runs out on his wedding a second caption, in the second or third scene, then reads "six months later," meaning that Britain had changed over the currency, so when one of the brothers keeps begging his mum for 10 shillings, etc., it might sound factually incorrect, but there was a changeover period and use of both currencies was permitted. Shilling coins remained legal tender and in circulation for many years; the sixpence remained in circulation until 1980 for machines, but was removed from general use after 1973; conversely the 50 New Pence coin (worth 10 shillings) was introduced two years before decimalisation. People didn't stop using the word "shilling" for many years although by 1974, the use of old money had gone.
- Quotes
George Khan: ...when I come this country, I have no luggage. Today what I got?
Meenah Khan: You got a chip shop, Dad.
George Khan: Right. Own bloody business, see.
- Crazy creditsSpecial thanks to ... and all the residents of Openshaw.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: Instinct/The Loss of Sexual Innocence/Limbo (1999)
- SoundtracksThe Banner Man
Written by Roger Greenaway, Herbie Flowers and Roger Cook
Copyright 1971, Cauliflower Music Ltd.
Performed by Blue Mink
Licensed from Trojan Recordings Ltd.
Featured review
Well-made drama about culture clashes
Three teenagers are sitting in front of a TV, enjoying their large helpings of pork sausage and bacon. Suddenly they hear a door opening and immediately start cleaning up all of the dishes and unsuccessfully try to get rid of the fumes of grilled bacon and sausages that billowed through the whole house. This is, of course, not depicting the normal life of three teenagers, but taken from the film "East Is East" by Damien O'Donnell. It deals with the story of a family in England in the 1970s with a Pakistani father (multi-facetted enacted by Om Puri) who still believes in his Pakistani traditions and his Muslim religion and an English mother (great performance by Linda Bassett) who tries to give her seven children as much freedom as all of their "fully English" friends enjoy. This movie was labeled as a Comedy both in theaters and on DVD or VHS, but anybody looking for light-hearted entertainment fitting for a Saturday night will be hugely disappointed. This movie is out to teach the viewer about how difficult it is to get two very different cultures to not only co-exist peacefully next to each other, but to merge them to create a new one. The script by Ayub Khan-Din, who also wrote the book and the stage version of this movie, does have its funny moments, and the whole cast, including the children, is in for some good laughs. But the more intense moments are those where the viewer has to deal with outbursts of domestic violence or things like arranged marriages that seem so far away and cruel to Westerners. The cast shows its brilliance in those intimate moments. Even though the script might sometimes appear to be too ambitious there are just too many characters all developing in a very distinct manner and all crucial to the movie the movie can be recommended to anyone who is not looking for a standard comedy and is willing to have his views on life challenged.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Схід є схід
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £1,900,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,177,818
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $53,569
- Apr 16, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $4,177,818
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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