Movie No. 129 (2013): EAST-WEST
East-West (Est-Ouest) (1999)
Director: Regis Wargnier
Cast: Oleg Menshikov, Catherine Deneuve, Sandrine Bonnaire, Sergei Bodrov Jr.
In French and Russian, with English subtitles
Synopsis: June 1946. Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a shipload from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step. By chance, she meets a touring French actress and pleads for help. She also takes a young swimmer under her wing, and several years later, he makes a bold attempt to escape. Meanwhile, the KGB is suspicious, and hope for freedom. Patience, her husband's self control, and her good looks may be their only assets. - from www.imdb.com
Director: Regis Wargnier
Cast: Oleg Menshikov, Catherine Deneuve, Sandrine Bonnaire, Sergei Bodrov Jr.
In French and Russian, with English subtitles
Synopsis: June 1946. Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a shipload from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step. By chance, she meets a touring French actress and pleads for help. She also takes a young swimmer under her wing, and several years later, he makes a bold attempt to escape. Meanwhile, the KGB is suspicious, and hope for freedom. Patience, her husband's self control, and her good looks may be their only assets. - from www.imdb.com
I see this film as one that is about love in all of its forms. Love of family, love of country, love of freedom, love of oneself, and even selfless love. We may not agree with any of the characters' actions in some instances but we surely understand them given the circumstances they're in. The way the relationships and interactions of the four main characters are written and translated into screen is one of the best things about the film. I could only applaud after I saw the film.
This film got nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category of Academy Awards in 1999.
Rating: 4.0/4.0
Date seen: July 7, 2013
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