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EAST-WEST Send This Review to a Friend
As a nominee for best foreign film Oscar "East-West" lost to "All About My Mother," but Oscar aside, "East-West" was a worthy competitor as one of the finest, most powerful dramas to emerge from France in years. Intelligently and tautly directed by Regis Wargnier ("Indochine"), this story set mainly in what was the Soviet Union is a relentlessly gripping and intensely human tale of what happened to displaced Russians who after World War II accepted Stalin's appeal to return to the motherland.
The primary focus is on young Dr. Alexei Golovine and his French wife, Marie, who arrive by ship in Odessa along with others filled with hope (the Soviet Union had just emerged as an ally in defeating Hitler), only to see some of the returnees executed on the spot, with Marie at first accused of being a spy. Surviving the initial horror, they are placed in awful communal living quarters, and through the years, there is one goal for Marie--return to France. But this the authorities will not permit. Alexei becomes increasingly part of Soviet life. Is he doing it to help Marie achieve her goal or because he has been seduced by the system? Also at stake is the future of his son, Serioja, Alexei's marriage and the personal and professional new relationships that he forms.
This is a rich film akin to a sprawling novel, with many interesting characters, all well portrayed. Sandrine Bonnaire, an actress so beautiful and talented that watching her becomes riveting, makes Marie a life force, and Oleg Menchikov gives depth to Alexei as he navigates the problems he faces. Serguei Bodrov Jr. excels as Sasha, a young, virile swimmer who grows close to Marie, longs for freedom himself, and becomes a key in her efforts to escape. The film gets a further jolt of strength from the important performance of Catherine Deneuve as Gabrielle, a renowned, leftist French actress who fashions a daring scheme to aid Marie. Deneuve, still beautiful in her more mature years, strikes exactly the right tone of self-assurance and determination needed to pull off what she does.
The script co-written by Wargnier with Roustam Ibraguimbek, Serguei Bodrov and Louis Gardel, is mostly very credible, save for the dockside executions which seem to happen too abruptly given the impression the Soviet union was trying to make in luring people back. From what we now know of the period, virtually everything else is a convincing glimpse into life at that time.
"East-West," beautifully shot by director of photography Laurent Dailland, can keep you spellbound as the many-layered story develops, complete with a nail-biting climax. It should stand as among the best of films opened commercially in the United States in the year 2000. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
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