‘Tickle-Tackle all gone?‘
When I recently had a small pandemic inspired breakdown that resulted in me sobbing uncontrollably in an empty bathtub, my mum advised me to watch East is East as it would ‘cheer me up’. Well, with that unfortunate incident long behind me, Damien O’Donnell’s seminal 90s classic finally came up on my watchlist randomiser and here we are…
It’s the 1970s. George Khan (Om Puri) is trying to marry off his sons much to the chagrin of every one else in the family. Tariq (Jimi Mistry) is more concerned with snogging his white girlfriend Stella (Emma Rydal). Saleem (Chris Bisson) spends his spare time drawing ornate portraits of uncircumcised penises and Meenah (Archie Panjabi)… Meenah only seems to exist to snipe from the side lines and occasionally dance around with a sweeping brush. Which is fine.
I can see why my mum likes East is East. It’s beautifully acted and the characters feel lived in and authentic. O’Donnell mostly steers away from the Loachian approach of depicting working class life as an unrelenting parade of misery, instead celebrating the diversity and togetherness that, at its best, make British society so unique. Having said that, this is a human story, not a political one, and it is in the more personal moments that East is East really shines. The script is adapted from Ayub Khan-Din’s play (based on his own experiences) and this ensures that East is East never becomes too broad or too much of a crowd pleaser. Indeed, while I did enjoy it, I’m still pretty baffled as to why it became such a humongous hit at the tail end of the 90s, although I don’t begrudge it that success.
East is East is not a complex film (although family patriarch George Khan is a genuinely complex character) but then nor should it be. Instead, it’s a celebration of two disparate cultures and their uneasy relationship over a number of decades. And it features a sculpture of a massive fanny. Happy days.