East/West: Difference between revisions

East/West
East/West
	French theatrical release poster
French	Est-Ouest
Directed by	Régis Wargnier
Written by	Rustam Ibragimbekov; Sergei Bodrov; Louis Gardel; Régis Wargnier;
Produced by	Yves Marmion; Alexander Rodnyansky;
Starring	Sandrine Bonnaire; Oleg Menshikov; Catherine Deneuve; Sergei Bodrov Jr.; Grigori Manoukov; Tatyana Dogileva; Bohdan Stupka; Hubert Saint-Macary; Atanass Atanassov;
Cinematography	Laurent Dailland
Edited by	Hervé Schneid
Music by	Patrick Doyle
Production; companies	UGC YM; Mate Producciones; NTV-Profit; France 3 Cinéma;
Distributed by	UGC Fox Distribution (France); Alta Films (Spain);
Release dates	4 August 1999 (Locarno); 1 September 1999 (France); 25 February 2000 (Spain); 7 April 2000 (Russia);
Running time	124 minutes
Countries	Bulgaria; France; Russia; Spain;
Languages	French; Russian;
Budget	$9.1 million
Box office	$9.4 million

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Latest revision as of 21:01, 8 March 2024

East/West (French: Est-Ouest; Russian: Восток-Запад, romanized: Vostok-Zapad) is a 1999 drama film directed by Régis Wargnier, starring Sandrine Bonnaire, Oleg Menshikov, Catherine Deneuve and Sergei Bodrov Jr. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

In 1946, Stalin calls all White Russian émigrés who fled to the West after the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917, back to the USSR in order to help rebuild the devastated motherland in the aftermath of the Second World War and offers them citizenship. Among a group of French émigrés is the doctor Alexei Golovin (Menshikov), who believes in Stalin's promises of a peaceful new beginning, his French wife Marie (Bonnaire), and their young son Serjoscha. The atmosphere on the ship taking them to Russia is jovial, with drinking and singing. But as soon as they dock in Odessa, it is clear that Stalin was using his promises as an excuse to murder the exiles or have them put in Gulags. Once ashore, the Soviet authorities separate them into two groups, 'fit' and 'unfit'. A young man is shot trying to run back to his father from whom he is separated, and the Golovins begin to understand the situation they have landed in.

On arrival Marie is branded a spy by a Soviet official, and her French passport is torn up. The family moves into a cramped apartment in a communal house in Kyiv and Alexei accepts a job overseeing workers' health in a factory. Marie briefly befriends the elderly housekeeper — who speaks some French—but this lady is quickly 'denounced', taken away, and ends up dead. Her grandson Sasha (Bodrov) is left without a home when a couple arrive and claim his grandmother's room. Marie invites him to live in the Golovin's room.

Marie feels stifled and repressed and wants to go back to France. She attempts to go to the Soviet authorities and ask to be sent back, but she is stopped by Alexei. Public non-compliance, he knows, could get them all killed. She also approaches a visiting French actress, Gabrielle (Deneuve), and attempts to gain her help in escaping the USSR. Marie and Alexei grow distant as he assumes his role as the public health advisor and publicly toes the party line, while she yearns for France. Her budding friendship with Sasha, who is a champion swimmer recently thrown out of the local team, becomes a vehicle of possible escape. As she helps him train in order to regain his position on the team, they see an opportunity to go West for the European championships, and help them both towards liberation. Marie gains a job working to iron costumes for the military choir in Kyiv.

Maria and Alexei fall out after he publicly thanks the Soviet government and she is furious. Alexei then reveals that he has slept with a neighbor, Olga, because Marie has become distant and the other woman 'looks at him differently' than the resentment he constantly gets from Marie. She throws him out and he begins to live in the neighboring room with Olga.

Sasha wins the trials and is selected for the championships in Vienna. After the selection, he spends the night with Marie. Soon after, Marie's letters to her French family are discovered in his bags and his coach warns her to stay away. Sasha goes to a training camp by the Black Sea.

While away for training, Sasha arranges for himself to be smuggled on a ship out of the USSR and needs money to pay for it. Marie obtains the money and comes to the port city with the military choir. The ship captain at first tries to go back on the agreement, but then explains that he can't come close to shore, so Sasha attempts to swim six hours out to meet him far offshore. Marie is brutally interrogated by the same KGB official she first met when she came to the USSR. A French magazine article reveals that Sasha was successful in escaping to the West, Marie is implicated and jailed for six years.

Upon her release, her now teenage son and husband come to receive her. She reconciles with Alexei, and he promises her he still loves her. Two years later they are in a delegation to Sofia, Bulgaria where Alexei reveals to Marie that he has arranged for her escape over the intervening years by writing to the actress Gabrielle. Marie and her son escape with Gabrielle to the French embassy. Alexei is arrested for complicity and sent to be a medic in a gulag in Sakhalin. With the advent of glasnost in the Soviet Union he finally returns to France in 1987.

Cast

Sandrine Bonnaire as Marie Golovina
Oleg Menshikov as Alexey Golovin
Catherine Deneuve as Gabrielle Devele
Sergei Bodrov Jr. as Sasha Vasilyev
Grigori Manoukov as Pirogov
Tatyana Dogileva as Olga
Bohdan Stupka as Colonel Boyko
Hubert Saint-Macary as embassy advisor
Atanass Atanassov as Viktor
Valentin Ganev as Volodya Petrov
Ruben Tapiero as Seryozha, age 7
Erwan Baynaud as Seryozha, age 14
Meglena Karalambova as Nina Fyodorovna
Tania Massalitinova as Anastasia Aleksandrovna
Nikolai Binev (credited as Nikolaï Binev) as Sergei Kozlov
René Féret as Ambassadeur de France
Daniel Martin as Turkish Captain
Hubert Saint-Macary as Embassy Advisor
Jauris Casanova as Fabiani
Yuriy Yakovlev (credited as Youri Yakovlev) as Vieil Homme Kommonalka
Viara Tabakova as Epouse de l'ivrogne
Dimitar Nikolov as Chauffeur camion

Reception

Critical response

East/West has an approval rating of 65% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 31 reviews, and an average rating of 6.53/10.^[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews"^[6]

Awards

Nominated

1999 Golden Globes: Best Foreign Language Film
1999 César Awards:

Best Film

Best Actress: Sandrine Bonnaire

Best Director: Regis Wargnier

Best Music: Patrick Doyle

1999 Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film — Regis Wargnier
1999 National Board of Review Awards: Best Foreign Film

Won

2000 Miami International Film Festival: Audience Award
2000 Palm Springs International Film Festival: Audience Award
2000 Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Audience Choice Award

^[7]

References

^ "FILM CLIPS / Also opening this week". SFGATE. 14 April 2000.
^ "East-West | Film". The Guardian. 21 July 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Est-Ouest (1999)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
^ "Est-Ouest (East-West) (1999) - JPBox-Office".
^ "East-West". Rotten Tomatoes.
^ "Est - Ouest". Metacritic.
^ IMDb - Awards

External links

[1] "FILM CLIPS / Also opening this week". SFGATE. 14 April 2000.

[2] "East-West | Film". The Guardian. 21 July 2008.

[bfi-3] "Est-Ouest (1999)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

[4] "Est-Ouest (East-West) (1999) - JPBox-Office".

[5] "East-West". Rotten Tomatoes.

[6] "Est - Ouest". Metacritic.

[7] IMDb - Awards

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|1999 film by Régis Wargnier}}
 {{Other uses|East West (disambiguation){{!}}East West}}
 {{Infobox film
@@ Line 6: / Line 7: @@
 | native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|Est-Ouest}}
 | director = [[Régis Wargnier]]
-| producer = {{Plainlist|
-* Yves Marmion
-* [[Alexander Rodnyansky]]
-}}
 | writer = {{Plainlist|
 * [[Rustam Ibragimbekov]]
@@ Line 15: / Line 12: @@
 * [[Louis Gardel]]
 * Régis Wargnier
+}}
+| producer = {{Plainlist|
+* Yves Marmion
+* [[Alexander Rodnyansky]]
 }}
 | starring = {{Plainlist|
@@ Line 27: / Line 28: @@
 * Atanass Atanassov
 }}
-| music = [[Patrick Doyle]]
 | cinematography = Laurent Dailland
 | editing = [[Hervé Schneid]]
+| music = [[Patrick Doyle]]
 | production_companies = {{Plainlist|
 * [[UGC (cinema operator)|UGC YM]]
@@ Line 41: / Line 42: @@
 }}
 | country = {{Plainlist|
-* Bulgaria<ref name="bfi">{{cite web |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b815aae23 |title=Est-Ouest (1999) |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref>
+* Bulgaria<ref name="bfi">{{cite web |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b815aae23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706023154/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b815aae23 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 6, 2017 |title=Est-Ouest (1999) |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref>
 * France<ref name="bfi"/>
 * Russia<ref name="bfi"/>
 * Spain<ref name="bfi"/>
 }}
-| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1999|8|4|[[Locarno Film Festival]]|1999|9|1|France|2000|2|25|Spain|2000|4|7|Russia}}
+| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1999|8|4|[[Locarno Festival|Locarno]]|1999|9|1|France|2000|2|25|Spain|2000|4|7|Russia}}
-| runtime = 124 minutes<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-CLIPS-Also-opening-this-week-2764445.php | title=FILM CLIPS / Also opening this week | date=14 April 2000 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/86659/east-west | title=East-West &#124; Film &#124; the Guardian | website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=21 July 2008 }}</ref>
+| runtime = 124 minutes<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-CLIPS-Also-opening-this-week-2764445.php | title=FILM CLIPS / Also opening this week |website=[[SFGATE]] | date=14 April 2000 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/86659/east-west | title=East-West &#124; Film | newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | date=21 July 2008}}</ref>
 | language = {{Plainlist|
 * French
@@ Line 59: / Line 60: @@
 ==Plot==
-In 1946, [[Stalin]] calls all [[White emigre|White Russian émigrés]] who fled to the [[Western world|West]] after the [[Bolshevik]] [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], back to the [[USSR]] in order to help rebuild the devastated motherland in the aftermath of the [[Second World War]] and are offered citizenship. Among this group is the émigré Doctor Alexei Golovin (Menshikov) who also believed in Stalin's promises of a peaceful new beginning, his French wife Marie (Bonnaire) and their young son Serjoscha. The atmosphere on the ship taking them to Russia is jovial, with drinking and singing. But as soon as they arrive in [[Odessa]], it turns out that Stalin was only using his promises as an excuse to murder the exiles or have them put in [[Gulag]]s. Once they come ashore, the Soviet authorities separate them into two groups, 'fit' and 'unfit'. A man is shot trying to run back to his father from whom he is separated, and the Golovins begin to understand the situation they have landed in.
+In 1946, [[Stalin]] calls all [[White emigre|White Russian émigrés]] who fled to the [[Western world|West]] after the [[Bolshevik]] [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], back to the [[USSR]] in order to help rebuild the devastated motherland in the aftermath of the [[Second World War]] and offers them citizenship. Among a group of French émigrés is the doctor Alexei Golovin (Menshikov), who believes in Stalin's promises of a peaceful new beginning, his French wife Marie (Bonnaire), and their young son Serjoscha. The atmosphere on the ship taking them to Russia is jovial, with drinking and singing. But as soon as they dock in [[Odessa]], it is clear that Stalin was using his promises as an excuse to murder the exiles or have them put in [[Gulag]]s. Once ashore, the Soviet authorities separate them into two groups, 'fit' and 'unfit'. A young man is shot trying to run back to his father from whom he is separated, and the Golovins begin to understand the situation they have landed in.
-Marie is branded a spy, and her French passport is torn up. Alexei accepts a job in [[Kyiv]] overseeing the health conditions in a factory and the family moves into a communal house. Marie briefly befriends the elderly housekeeper—who speaks some French—but this lady is quickly 'denounced' by the state and ends up dead. Her grandson Sasha (Bodrov) is left without a place when boarders come in and claim his missing grandmother's room, and Marie, guilty, invites him to live in the Golovin room.
+On arrival Marie is branded a spy by a Soviet official, and her French passport is torn up. The family moves into a cramped apartment in a communal house in [[Kyiv]] and Alexei accepts a job overseeing workers' health in a factory. Marie briefly befriends the elderly housekeeper — who speaks some French—but this lady is quickly 'denounced', taken away, and ends up dead. Her grandson Sasha (Bodrov) is left without a home when a couple arrive and claim his grandmother's room. Marie invites him to live in the Golovin's room.
-Marie feels stifled and repressed and wishes to go back to France dearly. She attempts to go to the Soviet authorities and demand to be sent back, but she is stopped by Alexei. Public, noncompliance, he knows, could get them all killed. She also approaches a French actress, Gabrielle (Deneuve), and attempts to gain her help in escaping the USSR. Marie and Alexei grow distant as he acclimates to his role as the public health advisor and toes the party line, while she yearns for the West. Her budding friendship with Sasha, who is a champion swimmer recently thrown out of the local team, becomes a vehicle of possible escape. As she helps him train in order to regain his position on the team, they see an opportunity to go West for the European championships, and help them both towards liberation. Marie gains a job working to iron clothes for the military choir in Kyiv.
+Marie feels stifled and repressed and wants to go back to France. She attempts to go to the Soviet authorities and ask to be sent back, but she is stopped by Alexei. Public non-compliance, he knows, could get them all killed. She also approaches a visiting French actress, Gabrielle (Deneuve), and attempts to gain her help in escaping the USSR. Marie and Alexei grow distant as he assumes his role as the public health advisor and publicly toes the party line, while she yearns for France. Her budding friendship with Sasha, who is a champion swimmer recently thrown out of the local team, becomes a vehicle of possible escape. As she helps him train in order to regain his position on the team, they see an opportunity to go West for the European championships, and help them both towards liberation. Marie gains a job working to iron costumes for the military choir in Kyiv.
-Maria and Alexei have a falling out after he thanks the Soviet government and Marie is furious. Alexei reveals that he has slept with the neighbor, because Marie has become distant and the other woman 'looks at him differently' than the resentment he constantly gets from Marie. She throws him out and he begins to live in the neighboring room with the other woman.
+Maria and Alexei fall out after he publicly thanks the Soviet government and she is furious. Alexei then reveals that he has slept with a neighbor, Olga, because Marie has become distant and the other woman 'looks at him differently' than the resentment he constantly gets from Marie. She throws him out and he begins to live in the neighboring room with Olga.
-Sasha wins the trials and is selected for the championship in Europe. After the selection, he spends the night with Marie. Yet soon after Marie's letters to her French family are discovered in his things and his coach warns her to stay away. He goes to a training camp by the [[Black Sea]].
+Sasha wins the trials and is selected for the championships in Vienna. After the selection, he spends the night with Marie. Soon after, Marie's letters to her French family are discovered in his bags and his coach warns her to stay away. Sasha goes to a training camp by the [[Black Sea]].
-While away for training, Sasha secures secret passage on a ship West and needs money. Marie furnishes the money and comes to that city with the military choir. The ship captain reveals he can't come close to shore, so Sasha attempts to swim 6 hours out to meet him in the water. Marie is brutally interrogated by the same [[KGB]] official she first met when she came to the USSR.
+While away for training, Sasha arranges for himself to be smuggled on a ship out of the USSR and needs money to pay for it. Marie obtains the money and comes to the port city with the military choir. The ship captain at first tries to go back on the agreement, but then explains that he can't come close to shore, so Sasha attempts to swim six hours out to meet him far offshore. Marie is brutally interrogated by the same [[KGB]] official she first met when she came to the USSR. A French magazine article reveals that Sasha was successful in escaping to the West, Marie is implicated and jailed for six years.
-It is revealed that Sasha successfully escaped to the West and Marie is implicated and jailed for six years. Upon her release, her now-grown son and husband come to receive her. She reconciles with Alexei, and he promises her he still loves her. Two years later they are in a delegation to [[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]] and Alexei reveals to Marie he has arranged for her escape over the past few years by speaking to the actress Gabrielle. Marie and her son escape with Gabrielle to the French embassy. Alexei is arrested for complicity and sent to be a medic in a Gulag in [[Sakhalin]]. He is not able to return to France until 1987.
+Upon her release, her now teenage son and husband come to receive her. She reconciles with Alexei, and he promises her he still loves her. Two years later they are in a delegation to [[Sofia]], Bulgaria where Alexei reveals to Marie that he has arranged for her escape over the intervening years by writing to the actress Gabrielle. Marie and her son escape with Gabrielle to the French embassy. Alexei is arrested for complicity and sent to be a medic in a gulag in [[Sakhalin]]. With the advent of glasnost in the Soviet Union he finally returns to France in 1987.
 ==Cast==
@@ Line 84: / Line 85: @@
 * Atanass Atanassov as Viktor
 * [[Valentin Ganev]] as Volodya Petrov
+* Ruben Tapiero as Seryozha, age 7
+* [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063136/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t6 Erwan Baynaud] as Seryozha, age 14
+* Meglena Karalambova as Nina Fyodorovna
+* Tania Massalitinova as Anastasia Aleksandrovna
+* Nikolai Binev (credited as Nikolaï Binev) as Sergei Kozlov
+* René Féret as Ambassadeur de France
+* [[Daniel Martin (actor)|Daniel Martin]] as Turkish Captain
+* Hubert Saint-Macary as Embassy Advisor
+* Jauris Casanova as Fabiani
+* Yuriy Yakovlev (credited as Youri Yakovlev) as Vieil Homme Kommonalka
+* Viara Tabakova as Epouse de l'ivrogne
+* Dimitar Nikolov as Chauffeur camion
 ==Reception==
@@ Line 132: / Line 145: @@
 [[Category:Bulgarian historical drama films]]
 [[Category:Bulgarian multilingual films]]
+[[Category:Films about Soviet repression]]
+[[Category:Films about the Gulag]]
 [[Category:Films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era]]
 [[Category:Films directed by Régis Wargnier]]
@@ Line 139: / Line 154: @@
 [[Category:Films set in Kyiv]]
 [[Category:Films set in Odesa]]
+[[Category:Films set in concentration camps]]
 [[Category:Films shot in Bulgaria]]
 [[Category:Films shot in Kyiv]]
@@ Line 151: / Line 167: @@
 [[Category:Spanish multilingual films]]
 [[Category:1990s French films]]
-[[Category:Works about the Gulag]]

v t e French submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
1948–1960	Monsieur Vincent (1948) The Walls of Malapaga (1950) Forbidden Games (1952) Gervaise (1956) Gates of Paris (1957) My Uncle (1958) Black Orpheus (1959) La Vérité (1960)
1961–1980	Last Year at Marienbad (1961) Sundays and Cybèle (1962) The Fire Within (1963) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) Pierrot le Fou (1965) A Man and a Woman (1966) Live for Life (1967) Stolen Kisses (1968) My Night with Maud (1969) Hoa-Binh (1970) Ramparts of Clay (1971) The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) Day for Night (1973) Lacombe, Lucien (1974) India Song (1975) Cousin, cousine (1976) Madame Rosa (1977) Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978) A Simple Story (1979) The Last Metro (1980)
1981–2000	Diva (1981) Coup de Torchon (1982) Entre Nous (1983) So Long, Stooge (1984) Three Men and a Cradle (1985) Betty Blue (1986) Au revoir les enfants (1987) La Lectrice (1988) Camille Claudel (1989) Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Van Gogh (1991) Indochine (1992) Germinal (1993) Wild Reeds (1994) French Twist (1995) Ridicule (1996) Western (1997) The Dreamlife of Angels (1998) East/West (1999) The Taste of Others (2000)
2001–present	Amélie (2001) 8 Women (2002) Bon Voyage (2003) The Chorus (2004) Joyeux Noël (2005) Avenue Montaigne (2006) Persepolis (2007) The Class (2008) A Prophet (2009) Of Gods and Men (2010) Declaration of War (2011) The Intouchables (2012) Renoir (2013) Saint Laurent (2014) Mustang (2015) Elle (2016) BPM (Beats per Minute) (2017) Memoir of War (2018) Les Misérables (2019) Two of Us (2020) Titane (2021) Saint Omer (2022) The Taste of Things (2023)