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After nearly twelve years and from largely the same cast and crew comes the sequel to the brilliant 1999 film East is East. Like the original, West is West concentrates on the contradictions and confusions of being mixed race in the 1970s. However, this time, the film is mainly set in the village in Pakistan where George/Jahangir (Om Puri), the patriarch, grew up and lived with his first wife.
This gives the makers a chance to use beautiful landscape shots, vibrant colours, and weddings with more glitter than guests, each of which are difficult to come by in Salford in 1976, where brown and yellow patterned wallpapers dominated homes. There are also opportunities for obligatory jokes about getting the runs and making fun of the British abroad - in this case, Lancashire women descending into Pakistan complete with ever-present fags, perms and far too much blue eye shadow.
West is West concentrates on the relationship between George and Sajid (Aqib Khan), the youngest son who spent most of the first film hidden in a parka. Five years on, Sajid is being bullied because of the colour of his skin, which is making him resent his father. George realises that his son has no passion for his ancestry, which is the catalyst for their month-long trip to Pakistan. His plan is to show Sajid the land where he grew up, which should teach him to respect his past. Of course, this doesn’t work and, floundering, George palms Sajid off on an old man, who is meant to ‘teach him‘. This man turns out to be a Pakistani Dumbledore and Sajid does, of course, turn out alright in the end.
Meanwhile, George is having his own problems. Returning after thirty years to the wife and daughters he left behind fills him with guilt. He decides to build them a new house, rather than actually making any emotional attempt to reconcile, and takes all of his English wife’s money to do so. Cue his second wife Ella (Linda Basset), who is understandably pissed off. Basset gives my favourite performance as the ballsy Lancastrian who takes no nonsense and no prisoners: West is West would have been livened up considerably if she had been more prominent. Puri is also good in his portrayal of a man who can’t decide whether he is Pakistani or British, or if he’s allowed to be both, as is Khan’s irreverent Sajid.
Despite good performances though, West is West was very weak in places. The jokes weren’t as funny as in East is East; there was far too much emotion and not enough revelry, and frankly the wife we were meant to feel sorry for was fairly tedious. The best bits came from the Birmingham accents and the truly awful seventies outfits, not from the schmaltz and, unfortunately, schmaltz was pretty prevalent. While East is East managed to find a balance between the humorous and the serious, West is West was far less successful. There are great moments, but while not a write-off, West is West did not live up to its predecessor.
See West is West at City Screen. Check out the cinema's website for times and further details.]
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