East is East (15) Selected cinemas
The most impressive feature film debut by an Irish director for many years, the wholly endearing East is East signals a major discovery in Damien O'Donnell, who approaches his material with a wealth of wit, inventiveness and assurance. That material originated as an astutely observed, semi-autobiographical stage play by Ayub Khan-Din, a former actor who displays a keen ear for sharp, credible dialogue and who skilfully adapted the play for the screen.
A serious comedy of generational and cultural conflicts in early 1970s Manchester, East is East features Om Puri as George Khan, a strictly traditional Pakistani immigrant nicknamed Genghis by his seven offspring, whom he forces to conform to his values. He runs a chip shop in the Salford area with his ever-patient wife, Ella (Linda Bassett), a white North of England woman who often finds himself caught between love for the contradictory figure that is George and their children in their various acts of rebellion.
When their eldest son walks out on his bride in the middle of the wedding ceremony, he is regarded as dead by his father. The crunch comes when George organises arranged marriages for two of his sons, one of whom, Tariq (Jimi Mistry) has so deeply assimilated himself in English youth culture that he declares, "I'm not marrying a fuckin' Paki".
On the television Enoch Powell is spouting on about repatriation, while Blue Mink, Jimmy Cliff and McGuinness Flint are booming out on the soundtrack of this ostensibly gentle but ultimately hard-edged plea for tolerance which only rarely reveals its stage origins. The period trappings are authentically evoked in the impressive creations of the film's Irish production designer, Tom Conroy, and costume designer Lorna Marie Mugan.
That this wise, hilarious and touching film juggles conflicting emotions with such ease and skill is greatly to the credit of its young Irish director, who elicits engaging performances from his fresh young cast and from Om Puri and Linda Bassett, the remarkable actors who play their parents. This should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Damien O'Donnell's achievements in short films, especially the awards-laden Thirty Five Aside, which, like East is East, is rich in quirky visual ideas.
All About My Mother/Todo Sobre Mi Madre (18) Screen at D'Olier Street, Dublin
There has been an inexplicably long delay in releasing the latest Pedro Almodovar film here, but when a movie proves as admirable and enthralling as All About My Mother, it is well worth the wait. The Spanish director's 13th feature film, it is stamped with Almodovar's trademark flourishes all the way from its elaborate opening titles which preface the introduction of Manuela (Cecilia Roth), a devoted single mother settling down with her son, Esteban (Eloy Azorin) in their Madrid home for yet another shared re-viewing of their favourite movie, All About Eve.
It is the eve of Esteban's 17th birthday, for which Manuela buys him Truman Capote's Music For Chameleons and takes him to see a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire starring an actress, Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), they both admire. After the show, running through the rain to get the star's autograph, the boy is killed by a car, and as Maneula reads his notebook she realises that his most cherished wish was to meet his father who never knew the boy existed.
As Manuela returns to Barcelona to seek out the father, she is drawn into the worlds of La Agrado (Antonia San Juan), a one-time close friend and former truck driver who's now a transvestite prostitute; a pregnant young nun (Penelope Cruz) whose mother forges Marc Chagall paintings; and the actress, Huma Rojo, who is now performing Streetcar in Barcelona with her junkie lesbian lover.
Dedicated to all the actresses who have played actresses on screen - and specifically to Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands and Romy Schneider - All About My Mother is all about women and their stoicism and tenacity as they struggle to cope with the complexities and upheavals of their lives, and the roles they play in order to survive.
The film is also dedicated to the director's mother, who has played cameo roles in several of his movies and who died in September, four months after Almodovar received the best director award at Cannes. He ought to have been awarded the festival's principal prize, the Palme d'Or, for this lovingly crafted melodrama.
The most mature and sensitive film to date from Almodovar, All About My Mother is an entrancing experience which draws its characters with great affection and compassion. Superbly performed by an impeccable cast, it is sprinkled with Almodvar's offbeat humour in lines such as, "I think Prada is ideal for a nun".
