Amazon.com: Like The Thief (1997), which was also nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Regis Wargnier's East-West is a turbulent romance set against the political backdrop of post-World War II Russia. But instead of a man, a woman, and a child, the story revolves around a man, a woman, a child--and another man.
Shortly after the war, Alexei (Oleg Menshikov), his wife, Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire), and their son travel to Russia from France to make a new life for themselves. But they quickly find that the situation in Alexei's homeland isn't quite as advertised and that they can't leave. Sacha (Sergie Bodrov Jr.) is a young athlete who lives in the same overcrowded apartment complex. Like Marie, he wants to escape, while Alexei decides to make the best out of an awful situation. Inevitably, Marie and Alexei grow apart as Sacha and Marie grow close, but one of these characters is harboring a secret that won't be revealed until the end. The film does double time as a thriller in that, at any time, any of these characters could be imprisoned or killed--including French actress Gabrielle (Catherine Deneuve, star of Wargnier's Oscar winning Indochine). She befriends Marie during a tour of Russia and offers to help her and Sacha make their getaway.
At its worst, East-West threatens to strain credibility, but Wargnier's assured direction and the sympathetic performances he elicits from his cast make for a believable and compelling drama. Although not an epic on the scale of Doctor Zhivago, Wargnier takes a more intimate approach to similar subject matter and, arguably, offers the superior bittersweet conclusion. --Kathy Fennessy
Jam Up Movie This is one of the very best foreign movies that I've ever seen. It is set in the Stalinist era. In French/Russian with English subtitles. It is very dramatic and realistic.
French Soviet Culture Clash Est/Ouest is a wonderful collaboration about the cultural and political clash between the newly emerging Soviet Union and the Western world. In 1946, as a propaganda move, the Soviet government invited back Soviet emigrés who had fled to France during the Russian revolution. The story is of a Soviet doctor, Alexei Golovin, and his French wife, Marie. When they arrive in Odessa, they are met by machine-gun toting soldiers who actually gun down one of the returnees. They are transported to Kiev, where they are allotted one room in a "boarding house." Unfortunately for them, Marie is accused of being a capitalist spy, and life quickly goes downhill from there. The movie chronicles their 10 year attempt to flee Russia and get back to the "Free West". Movie is in French and Russian, with English subtitles. This is a very exciting story. I show this movie to my upper level French students, who adore it!
Life in Stalin's Russia This film in French and Russian language was made to show the story of the state of Russia shortly after WWII. It starts in year 1946 with a premise that all Russian expatriates living abroad since year 1917 (October Revolution) were invited for re-patriation back to Russia. We see a group of Russians leaving France with great hopes of reconnecting with their fatherland, offering new government their skills, talents and love for the country in an effort to build a new society after the devastating war. We know that this bait will end badly from the start. As these naive citizens step on the Russia soil the tragedy hits: elderly are separated from the young, families are being divided and before we know it a young French man of Russian decent is shot to death from the back by the eager Russian soldier. Main protagonist of this story is a doctor who with wife and a young son gets rude awakening of what is the future for his family. Deeply devoted to his wife, he will do whatever it takes top protect his family. As time passes and the differences and tension between the couple increases, wife is becoming more determined to escape Russian and get back to France. In the process and circumstances around them, she establishes relationship with a young Russian man who happens to live in the same apartmens with her family. Without desclosing the plot, we learn about two people so desparate for freedom and nothing to loose that will do anything to reclaim it. Over a period of 10 years lives of all of them are so profoundly changed that is hard to believe how can anyone endure such oppresion. It will take another 30 years after their escape until borders are open again and Russian citizens can choose to stay or immigrate to any country of their choice. See the rest of the movies by the talented Russian director Sergei Bodrov and his son who appears in many of his films, this one included (he had a role of young Russian lodger Sasha).
brilliant In many ways, flawless. A rare gem. Not sure why it is not available for all regions in the USA.
If they did this to their own people, imagine what they did to others In an age of political correctness it is refreshing to see a movie that isn't reluctant to portray the evils of communism. I find it somehow ironic that this lesson on the evils of communism should come from a French-Russian production, and wonder if there are enough gutsy people left in Hollywood who could duplicate this effort considering the current fascination of so many with socialism.
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