Analysis on

“East is East” Film

Ruth Johannes (17.J1.0007)
Ryan Archie (18.J1.0009)
Elsa Mutiara F. (18.J1.0019)
Shania Pandoh (18.J1.0024)
Carrisa (18.J1.0032)
 “East is East” Film
● East is East is a film by Damien O’Donnell that tells a half Pakistani and half
British family living in early 1970’s. This film is set in Salford in 1971. This is a
story that follows George Khan’s family. George Khan is a strict Muslim from
Pakistan who settled in Manchester and eventually married Ella, a white English.
In fact, his first wife still lives in Pakistan.

● This film emphasize lies most conspicuously on its portrayal of the beginnings of
contemporary multi-ethnic and multicultural British society. In brief, the film
shows the audience issues of cultural diversity, differences, and multicultural
British society.
 CONFLICTS

● George attends the mosque regularly and wants to raise his mixed-race children within
the tradition of Muslim faith. He desperately tries to defend his Muslim world view in a
world that has other views.
● The culture and identity conflicts suffered by these second generation children as a
result of the clash between their own aspirations and their father’s expectation. The
opening scene shows the family main problem. The six sons and a daughter of the Khan
family actively take part a Catholic procession. They are all smiling and happy.
• George defines Englishness against his own nationality. He sees his own family as Pakistani not English.
George tries to reinforce the differences by stressing the importance of Pakistani cultural and religious
practices. He authoritatively impose his own identity upon his children. He does not want to recognize that
his children are mixed-race.

• The real problem for the children is how they accommodate their identities within their own family. The
children’s identity are shaped and located in and by different places and situations such as the mosque, the
chippy shop, the street where they play, night-clubs or even visit to Bradford.
● The children hide when the van comes to take them to the mosque where they
have to attend religious and Urdu lesson. They are sitting bored and unengaged
during their lessons. They see the mosque as anyone else’s sacred place but
nothing to do with them.
● Tariq’s behaviors do not show any Pakistani culture. He is the most extreme and
rebellious at all. Several scenes shows Tariq’s passion for night-clubs, he is
going out with Stella, an English neighbor, and drinking alcohol which is not
allowed for Muslims.
● The children eat bacon and sausages at home when their father is out. In this
way, the children constantly rebel against the Pakistani education imposing on
them.
● George prevents his sons from marrying English women because he thinks that English
women are no good, drink alcohol, go with men and do not look after.
● He criticizes the Pakistani clothes his daughter is wearing, which are more trendy leaving
some parts of the body uncovered, yet he does not know that his culture also evolved.
● He suffers segregation, he is very proud of his fish and chip which Ella runs, and he
accepts half a cup of tea after arguments or joyful moments with his wife, Ella. This
means he accepts English culture partially.
 HOW THE CHILDREN SURVIVE
1. Nazir, the eldest, escapes from George Khan’s oppressive treatment. He rejects the Pakistani
tradition of an arranged marriage by refusing to marry the girl his father had chosen for him. He
walked out to on the guests during the wedding ceremony. Instead of returning home, he starts a
new life in Eccles with a gay partner.
2. Maneer keeps Muslim traditional customs, such as praying five times daily and reading the
Koran. He depicts as the only child who respects his father’s authority.
3. Tariq is the most extreme and rebellious of all. He asserts his Englishness by changing his name
for “Tony” to get into a disco that exclude Pakistanis.
4. Saleem also does not want to obey his father’s demands, yet he acts in a subtler way, not confronting him
directly.

5. Abdul goes along with his father’s wishes just to keep peace and avoid George’s violent outbursts.

6. Meenah prefers playing football to behaving like a proper traditional Pakistani woman.

7. Sajid keeps his parka hood constantly over his head as a way of protecting himself from the domestic
violence done by his father.
 CONCLUSION
This film shows the children’s main problem that is their identity sliding
between two cultures. The children constantly reject Pakistani culture and any
form of Pakistani identity. Although the children are mixed-race, they see
themselves as English not Pakistani. They then use their Englishness to reject
any aspect of Pakistani culture.
THANK
YOU!