Like Trainspotting (1996) and My Beautiful Laundrette (1986), it is representative of what can be described as a post-modern shift in 1990s film production and consumption.
However, unlike Trainspotting, East is East was conceived with the idea of it being a TV movie. TV movies, however, have a tradition of realism, a key feature in East is East. These films are a new kind of British film which is helping to redefine ideas of national and cultural identity.
East is East is set in the early 1970s Salford. It centres on George Khan, the architect of his family’s dilemma. He is a Muslim chip shop owner married to Ella, an English woman and has fathered seven children ranging from the devout Maneer to the wayward Tariq.
The family swerves precariously until George decides to take charge, disowning a son who refuses an arranged marriage. In order to reprieve himself, he decides that Tariq and his brother Abul will marry, sight unseen, the twin daughters of a Bradford businessman. The youngest, Said unearths the secret and the clan then decide to support the values of a normal British life.
George is a character both intransigent and violent, he is the root of the family conflict. Each conflict with each member of the Khan family occupies a different position along the fault line. Om Puri gives George paternal conservatism from which there is rich humour in his juggling act of trying to control the family by using Muslim values in a predominantly Christian society.
Nazir, the eldest, is gay and after fleeing an arranged marriage, he is disowned by his father. The multicultural homosexual aspect has links to another Channel 4 film production My Beautiful Laundrette.
Slapstick visual comedy is used when tomboy Meenah kicks a football through Mr Moorhouse’s window. His angry face is framed by what remains of his Enoch Powell poster. This gives the impression that all racists are the same and that they all have the same motives. Furthermore, a girl kicking a football through someone’s window breaks the stereotype of boy’s kicking football’s through windows, which is seen in many film and television productions. Moreover, Meenah playing football is against George’s beliefs that a woman’s place is in the household whilst wearing a sari.
The clash between British and Asian cultural values drives every scene from the beginning. In the opening sequence, a Christian parade winds its way down a tight, terraced Manchester street.
In the midst, there are six Anglo-Asian children, the Khan family. As their English mother looks on, George makes his way back from the mosque. The news of his arrival sparks a mini-stampede as the children make their way down a side street.
Tariq deals with his father’s traditionalism and prejudice by having a dyed-blonde haired girlfriend and taking her to discos as his alter ego Tony. This gives the audience the impression that he believes that he is British so he has a stereotypical English name and that because of the colour of his skin he must use an English identity to get into the disco. He is a party-loving rebel who rejects his Asian heritage, calling himself Tony.
Although addressing serious social issues, East is East is not heavy handed, it uses comedy as a feature to relieve tension. With the 1971 backdrop, there is the India-Pakistan war over Kashmir and Enoch Powell’s immigration speeches for the family to deal with as well as the pressures of family honour and personal honour.
Whilst challenging oppressive elements of traditional Pakistani culture. It deals with cultural differences and difficulties of assimilation. It is about the dangers of losing your identity, which George is trying so hard not to lose, when leaving one country for another.
