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East Is East Essay example

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"When I came to this country, I had no luggage. Today what have I got?" His daughter replies. "You got a chip shop dad." And this is exactly how East Of East stereotypes its leading characters and then slowly twists them on their head. Its opening scene depicts a family of diversity and broken down stereotypes. A Christian parade is filing along the streets of Salford, Manchester and the Khan children join the throng of participants to the pride of their mother, but upon hearing their father is observing from further down the street, the children race through the back alley's, only to rejoin the parade once it has passed their unsuspecting father. The Khan children's "great escape" is an apt opening to East Is East, as we understand the …show more content…

East Is East is about cultural differences and the difficulties of combining religious beliefs and culture. It's also about the dangers of losing one's identity in association with their homes. But the resonating theme of East Is East is family dynamics, and how children unavoidably rebel against their parents' traditions and beliefs. As the film has it, family is the cause, and eventual solution facing the Khan children. The themes of East Is East have widespread appeal to its audience without necessarily being an immigrant for the film to work. The audience participates in the universal feelings of the film with the enduring effects childhood and family leave on us; we immediately grasp the core of the film.
East Is East is packed with comedy moments and hilarious one-liners, but enters dark territory when it dips into domestic abuse. In one particularly difficult scene, we see George losing his temper and lashing out beating both his wife and one of his sons. The incident is not as graphic as we are used to with other movies but is still disturbing none the less. The filmmakers balance out the bleak sequence with moments other side of the comedy, some of which are of the slapstick variety and over-the-top, but the scene is not softened, it only stands out more as a scene of profound effect.
Powerful performances belong to Om Puri and Linda Bassett (playing Ella Kahn, mother of the Kahn brood). Om Puri has created George Kahn into more than just a

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