East-West

Rating:
Summary: Just For Love: Stunning Epic behind Pitiless History
Review: Though "East-West" (originally "Est-Ouest") looks very political at first sight, the fact is that it handles with much universal theme, which surely moved the voters of the Academy and the Golden Globe Award to give it a deserved nomination for Best Foreign Film in 2000. For all its apparent flaws, the film does not fail to move your heart in the end, making you think about how much people can take under the severest conditions to protect what you love.

After WW2, many exiles from Russia came back to their native country, and among them a doctor Alexei (Oleg
Menchikov, popular Russian actor) and his wife Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire). But as they land on the harbor of Odessa, they learn that everything is a lie. Deprived of her passport, and suspected as a spy sent from the West, Marie decides to return to France. While she survives the unhappy life in Kiev, being gradually estranged from Alexei, and her secret plans all end in disastrous results, her husband seeks for another solution. It soon becomes clear to them that it takes much longer time than they first expected.

"East-West" at its best shows the assured view on a family in this extreme situation, and their reaction to the harsh moment of reality. Real history gives strong support as a backgraond, but what we are impressed with is Marie's desperate and even manipulating ways of facing the reality, and Alexei's more comlicated, apparently cowardly action to autocratic rules during the Cold War. The changing relations between the husband and the wife is fastened by Bonnaire's strong performance, which suitably matches Menchikov's seemingly calm, resigned face. Those two actors with a good story is the best virture of the film.

There are flaws in this film, some say, and in fact the script seems sometimes melodramatic. Some reviewers might complain the loss of credibility at several points, but as I don't know much about the facts about the historical events, I can't criticize those moments when we see a Russian soldier killing an innocent victim on the spot at Odessa, or a KGB officier torturing Marie tearing her passport apart. It is certain that Russian bureaucrats look like caricature, but how could I know? Let me say this way: the film IS melodramatic, but for all that the film does not fail to grab your heart.

Whatever the complaint may be, the last scene pays off. And pays off very much. The film might have been better if it had taken a little longer time to bring everything to this conclusion. (I imagined there might be a longer director's cut somewhere in studio.) But, remember, the emotional power of "East-West" is beyond a doubt. Helped by the grand score of Patrick Doyle ("Bridget Jones' Diary" "Sense and Sensibility") and moody photography of Laurent Dailland, "East-West" is a triumph.

A Russian swimmer Sacha, one of the key characters of the film, is played by Serguei Bodrov Jr., son of Serguei Bodrov, co-writer of this film and director of "Prisoner of the Mountains" and "The Quickie."

Rating:
Summary: Just For Love: Stunning Epic behind Pitiless History
Review: Though "East-West" (originally "Est-Ouest") looks very political at first sight, the fact is that it handles with much universal theme, which surely moved the voters of the Academy and the Golden Globe Award to give it a deserved nomination for Best Foreign Film in 2000. For all its apparent flaws, the film does not fail to move your heart in the end, making you think about how much people can take under the severest conditions to protect what you love.

After WW2, many exiles from Russia came back to their native country, and among them a doctor Alexei (Oleg
Menchikov, popular Russian actor) and his wife Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire). But as they land on the harbor of Odessa, they learn that everything is a lie. Deprived of her passport, and suspected as a spy sent from the West, Marie decides to return to France. While she survives the unhappy life in Kiev, being gradually estranged from Alexei, and her secret plans all end in disastrous results, her husband seeks for another solution. It soon becomes clear to them that it takes much longer time than they first expected.

"East-West" at its best shows the assured view on a family in this extreme situation, and their reaction to the harsh moment of reality. Real history gives strong support as a backgraond, but what we are impressed with is Marie's desperate and even manipulating ways of facing the reality, and Alexei's more comlicated, apparently cowardly action to autocratic rules during the Cold War. The changing relations between the husband and the wife is fastened by Bonnaire's strong performance, which suitably matches Menchikov's seemingly calm, resigned face. Those two actors with a good story is the best virture of the film.

There are flaws in this film, some say, and in fact the script seems sometimes melodramatic. Some reviewers might complain the loss of credibility at several points, but as I don't know much about the facts about the historical events, I can't criticize those moments when we see a Russian soldier killing an innocent victim on the spot at Odessa, or a KGB officier torturing Marie tearing her passport apart. It is certain that Russian bureaucrats look like caricature, but how could I know? Let me say this way: the film IS melodramatic, but for all that the film does not fail to grab your heart.

Whatever the complaint may be, the last scene pays off. And pays off very much. The film might have been better if it had taken a little longer time to bring everything to this conclusion. (I imagined there might be a longer director's cut somewhere in studio.) But, remember, the emotional power of "East-West" is beyond a doubt. Helped by the grand score of Patrick Doyle ("Bridget Jones' Diary" "Sense and Sensibility") and moody photography of Laurent Dailland, "East-West" is a triumph.

A Russian swimmer Sacha, one of the key characters of the film, is played by Serguei Bodrov Jr., son of Serguei Bodrov, co-writer of this film and director of "Prisoner of the Mountains" and "The Quickie."

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating, brilliant film.
Review: Though the only theater even relatively close to me where East-West was playing was 20+ minutes away, the drive was worth it. Partially in French, partially in Russian (with English subtitles), East-West is the story of a Russian doctor who was residing in France until after World War 2 who returns to the communist Soviet Union with his French wife and son. While the rest of the repatriated Russians are executed or sent to camps, the doctor is used as a model, and he is given a job and living space. His wife, however, dreams of nothing except impossible escape back to France, an obsession that she will stop at nothing for and even puts others in danger for. Her hatred for her new life creates a seperation in the marriage, and they must struggle for their lives in the crowded apartment buliding under constant watch. A famous touring French actress meets the wife and does everything she can for the family, which is virtually nothing. A haunting, thought-provoking film, I enjoyed it tremendously. The acting, music, directing, it was all outstanding and I recommend the movie to everyone. It deserved the foreign film Academy Award nomination it got. The only flaw I found with the film was towards the end when they kept jumping from year to year, but it had to be done for the realistic element because it did have to take a long time for the events to unfold. Overall, however, I loved the film and almost wish that all of today's theatrical releases could be of this quality!

Rating:
Summary: It's an emotional Energizer Bunny...
Review: To say I adore this movie is a vast understatement. From the ominous overture of the opening credits as waves crash against the ship speeding headlong into disaster right to the Chekhov-esque ending, I was entranced. I don't speak a word of French and my Russian is well below passable, but I guarantee this film is so riveting that a viewer won't notice he is reading subtitles the moment that ship lands in Odessa. Just as soon as the viewer thinks it can't possibly get any worse for the characters, along comes another climactic sucker punch.

As a side note, let me just say this: there is no other country like Russia. It may be something in the water, but visitors always have one of two reactions - they can't wait to leave, or they spend the rest of their lives wanting to go back. For the latter, the strangeness, complexity and near-infinite capacity for suffering that defines Russia gets into one's blood. This epitomizes the situation of the two main characters.

Oleg Menshikov fascinates and intrigues yet again as the Russian expatriate Dr. Alexi Golovin, who uprooted his family at the opportunity to return to a land he hadn't seen since childhood. Menshikov's impeccable performance belies the fact that he learned all his lines in French phoenetically. To act well in a movie as emotionally charged as this takes extreme talent; to do it in a completely foreign language speaks to how truly great an actor Menshikov is.

Sandrine Bonnaire as Alexi's wife Marie can clearly hold her own on camera, yet her character just didn't have the depth of Alexi. In the beginning, Marie simply smiles and nods as she is complimented on her fortitude in following her husband to Russia. This muted show of support for him is what drives their characters apart later on, in addition to her constant insistance that they return to France. She makes several foolhardy attempts to contact anyone from the French consulate, including the one that brings Catherine Deneuve into the mix.

Catherine Deneuve, despite being a wonderful actress, and only in fifteen minutes of the film, throws everything off balance. Her character's presence was distracting, although she does serve a purpose in the end. There were references to a political scandal and half-spoken reasons for the tour of Russia that could really have been left out.

The musical score is an integral part of the story as well. There are many moments where the music speaks to the emotion of the scene far better than any words could. The opening credit theme, Sacha's swim for freedom, and the Red Army Choir will be ringing on your ears long after the film has ended.

Rating:
Summary: It's an emotional Energizer Bunny...
Review: To say I adore this movie is a vast understatement. From the ominous overture of the opening credits as waves crash against the ship speeding headlong into disaster right to the Chekhov-esque ending, I was entranced. I don't speak a word of French and my Russian is well below passable, but I guarantee this film is so riveting that a viewer won't notice he is reading subtitles the moment that ship lands in Odessa. Just as soon as the viewer thinks it can't possibly get any worse for the characters, along comes another climactic sucker punch.

As a side note, let me just say this: there is no other country like Russia. It may be something in the water, but visitors always have one of two reactions - they can't wait to leave, or they spend the rest of their lives wanting to go back. For the latter, the strangeness, complexity and near-infinite capacity for suffering that defines Russia gets into one's blood. This epitomizes the situation of the two main characters.

Oleg Menshikov fascinates and intrigues yet again as the Russian expatriate Dr. Alexi Golovin, who uprooted his family at the opportunity to return to a land he hadn't seen since childhood. Menshikov's impeccable performance belies the fact that he learned all his lines in French phoenetically. To act well in a movie as emotionally charged as this takes extreme talent; to do it in a completely foreign language speaks to how truly great an actor Menshikov is.

Sandrine Bonnaire as Alexi's wife Marie can clearly hold her own on camera, yet her character just didn't have the depth of Alexi. In the beginning, Marie simply smiles and nods as she is complimented on her fortitude in following her husband to Russia. This muted show of support for him is what drives their characters apart later on, in addition to her constant insistance that they return to France. She makes several foolhardy attempts to contact anyone from the French consulate, including the one that brings Catherine Deneuve into the mix.

Catherine Deneuve, despite being a wonderful actress, and only in fifteen minutes of the film, throws everything off balance. Her character's presence was distracting, although she does serve a purpose in the end. There were references to a political scandal and half-spoken reasons for the tour of Russia that could really have been left out.

The musical score is an integral part of the story as well. There are many moments where the music speaks to the emotion of the scene far better than any words could. The opening credit theme, Sacha's swim for freedom, and the Red Army Choir will be ringing on your ears long after the film has ended.

Rating:
Summary: Appreciating freedom: the sense of the sinister
Review: Yes this is a good movie, and all the other positive comments. But what I find unique in East-West is the tangible sense of the foreboding, the sinister, the fearful undercurrent of distrust and danger that surely pervaded every encounter one had with others under the Soviet regime. The constant awareness that the next moment may find oneself whisked off to the Gulag, or one's loved ones seen never again. In many movies you can see the actors with this sense; in this movie you feel it yourself. For all of us who can hardly avoid taking freedom for granted, this needs to be felt.

Rating:
Summary: A textbook example of eurocentrism
Review: You'd never guess it from the usual misleading US release VHS/DVD cover box, but this movie is all about Oleg Menchikov's incredible lead performance. Yet, he's pushed far into the background on the cover, with Catherine Deneuve's beautiful face taking up at least 50% of the montage.

However, those looking for a good Catherine Deneuve movie may be in for a disappointment. While her role is certainly vital, her screen time is about 10% of the film, at the most.

The story is what drives this film. It seems incredible...too bleak and far-fetched to be real; but, the story is based on real events. Menchikov's performance is what seals the deal. I had seen him excel in the Academy Award-winning "Burnt By the Sun," and figured he was worth another shot.

And how. Just when you think you've got him figured out here - he reveals his hand to fool everyone in the film...as well as everyone watching. It's a spine-tingling cinematic moment.

This is far from a light, pick-me-up type of film. But if you're in the mood for an intelligent, well-made film - that imparts some real historical lessons in the process - then you can't do any better than 'East-West.'

Rating:
Summary: Bleak but mesmerizing history; Oleg Menchikov excels
Review: You'd never guess it from the usual misleading US release VHS/DVD cover box, but this movie is all about Oleg Menchikov's incredible lead performance. Yet, he's pushed far into the background on the cover, with Catherine Deneuve's beautiful face taking up at least 50% of the montage.

However, those looking for a good Catherine Deneuve movie may be in for a disappointment. While her role is certainly vital, her screen time is about 10% of the film, at the most.

The story is what drives this film. It seems incredible...too bleak and far-fetched to be real; but, the story is based on real events. Menchikov's performance is what seals the deal. I had seen him excel in the Academy Award-winning "Burnt By the Sun," and figured he was worth another shot.

And how. Just when you think you've got him figured out here - he reveals his hand to fool everyone in the film...as well as everyone watching. It's a spine-tingling cinematic moment.

This is far from a light, pick-me-up type of film. But if you're in the mood for an intelligent, well-made film - that imparts some real historical lessons in the process - then you can't do any better than 'East-West.'