The film contained a mixed religious family. There is an Asian male named George Kahn, who is middle, aged, born in Pakistan and has lived in Britain for 20 years (who has obviously changed his name) his wife, Ella Kahn is a female born in Britain, together they live with their seven children. All seven children were born and brought up in Britain, and expected to follow their father’s culture. Only Manner fully follows his father’s culture. Although their neighbours hold different views and act in different ways towards them, they try to accept them as a mixed heritage family, but not everyone treats them as equals within society. Stella’s granddad is a figure, which prevents the Kahn family from reaching their goal of racial equality. He is a strong follower of Enoch Powell. Enoch Powell was a conservative politician and a racist MP from the mid to late 1960’s. Stella’s granddad was obsessed with his several notorious political, incorrect speeches and constant attacks on Black, Asian and immigrants. He feels that the Kahn family don’t belong in the town; therefore he doesn’t see them as equal.
In East is East there is a diverse contrast of national and individual identities. The fact that Enoch Powell a racist MP held a seat in parliament has great reference and significance to the film. The fact that the Kahn family lived in an area were the community thought in accordance to their political beliefs and held views, which were often stereotypical and pre judged. I feel that the Kahn family were misunderstood and because they were different than others in the community they were treated differently. The reason why the Kahn’s can be described as different is because of their religion, culture and family values.
The mixed heritage family are treated as an outsider group in their society, the Kahn family tried to fit into the community by running a fish and chip shop, which can be described as typically British. I feel they decided to run a fish and chip shop to show that they are British. This investment helped them become recognised within the town and finally accepted.
The Kahn family play a key role in creating the audiences understanding of the film. As an audience we see how the Kahn family slowly ease their way into society and how the community treat them as their lives go on.
I feel the Kahn family have several individual identities.
I.E. Nazir the oldest son who turns out gay, Tariq 3rd oldest son says,
“I’m not a Paki I was born here” and Maneer 3rd youngest child who is a devout Muslim. Although the family hold different identities, George tries to bring the family together and tries to make them understand their true roots and heritage. He fails to realise his children are mixed heritage and are not exposed to his cultural and religious identity. The director of the film, show to the audience that George should understand his children are mixed heritage and bring cultures together rather than make his children just follow his culture, I think this is how the director felt about her/his parents.
His children should have the choice to take elements from each culture and apply them into their everyday lives.
The community are very accepting of the Kahn family and they are not like Stella’s racist granddad. I feel the Kahn family were ultimately accepted into society at a time, the 1960’s, when the people did not know how to treat ethnic minorities as equals. George’s misunderstanding of the culture that his children were exposed to in everyday life and their wish to be like their peers, ultimately caused the Kahn family to crumble. George caused a clash of personalities by using his power as the head of the family to impose his Religious and Cultural beliefs. I feel George tries to bring up his children, in the same way he was brought up whilst in Pakistan; he fails to understand that his children are British.
I will now look at the fist two scenes in the film and compare them. I feel these scenes are the most important in almost every film. It shows what the film will be about, introduces each character e.g. attitudes, culture background, identity, and the way they treat their religion (if one).
The first scene is opened with a known 70s English song, this sets the scene (in 1970). All the main characters are introduced (George Khan, Ella Khan, Nazir, Saleem, Manner, priest, Meenah, Sajid, Earnest, and his sister, they are on a Christian parade marching merrily celebrating Good Friday. The whole neighbourhood is taken place or watching the parade. We are then introduced to the mother with seven children, warns them about their father who is down the street and for some reason he has come early from mosque, the children are then forced to take a detour from the main parade, this shows that the family is a mixture of a Pakistani Muslim and a Christian family, but the father does not see this, it also shows that children are strictly forbidden from their father to take place in Christian festivals and too follow their religion (Islam) in the right way. This is a very significant point, as we later see in the film the children are eating pork.
The film’s opening humor centers around the children mocking Pakistani rules and customs while carefully trying to cover up when the father is watching. They eat pork, avoid the mosque, and don’t pray. Yet, they try to deny their Pakistani heritage belies. While Sajid, an entertaining allusion to South Park's Kenny, always wears a hood, obscuring his face — and obviously his darker skin. Maneer prays and studies the Quran, but faces ostracism from even his siblings who refer to him as "Gandhi.”
The second scene is opened with a Indian song the Khan family and relatives are preparing a arranged wedding for the oldest son, in this scene a group of English people watch as a Indian festival is taken place where in the first scene George was watching an English parade, we later see that the son is unhappy and goes against his father and embarrasses his father by running away from his wedding and his family leaving wife and father heart broken and angry.
East is East is a British film made for a British audience. The film East is East was made in the late 1990’s but it’s based in the early 1970’s, it is mainly about the Kahn family, a Muslim family who live in a small terraced house, which consists of 9 family members. Their father also straddles two cultures awkwardly. While he is a devoted member of the local mosque, he has chosen to marry a non-Muslim Englishwoman. George’s fish and chips shop is a quintessential part of working-class in England. And he swears like a perfect working-class Englishman. But his own integration in English society concerns him. He confides to his mullah, "People say you can’t be English and still be a good Pakistani."
It is George’s desire to appear to be a good Pakistani that leads him to trouble. The mullah suggests that George will be more at ease if his sons are more solidly linked to the Pakistani community through an arranged marriage. He’s desperate for his children to know and honor their heritage - so desperate that he doesn't care that he's alienating them by brutally forcing them to accept rituals and traditions that are at a steep remove from their lives.
About the only thing Pakistani about George’s children are their names. Tariq who has an English girlfriend and drinks at nightclubs. Saleem secretly an avant-garde art student, but tells his father that he is studying engineering. And the two youngest children, Meenah and Sajid, spend most of their free time playing on the streets with their English friends.
The director ends the film with the family happily together and the father who now understands his family; this brings a warm atmosphere for the audience. I think the director had to end the film like this, but in reality they do not happily end like east is east.
