Scene summaries

Act 1

The procession

The film East is East (1999) directed by Damien O'Donnell opens with a Christian procession marching down the streets of a small industrial town. Among them march the seven children of the Khan family, some of them carrying statues and banners. They are accompanied by an acquaintance, Annie, who works in the shop run by George and Ella.

Their mother, Ella, arrives to alert them that George, their father, is back early from the mosque. This prompts the children to abandon the procession and run and hide on a side street to avoid him. After the procession passes the place where George is watching, they re-join it. 

At home, the Khan family gets ready for Nazir’s wedding. The children are all dressed in traditional Pakistani clothing, although they resent having to wear them. George gives Nazir a watch with his name written in Arabic and tells him he is proud of him. 

As they get into the car, Mr. Moorhouse, their neighbor, watches them disdainfully from his doorstep, along with his granddaughter, Stella. Tariq winks at Stella, and she grins. Mr. Moorhouse’s grandson, Earnest, greets Sajid and is also greeted back. 

At the venue, the bride is brought inside, and the bride and groom finally reveal their faces to each other. However, when the ceremony is about to begin, Nazir rises and says he cannot do this. His father tries to stop him, but Nazir runs out. 

The Khan children are different

Six months after the failed wedding, George complains to the mullah of his bad luck. He wonders if things would have been different if he lived in a community with more Pakistani immigrants. The mullah replies that George will always have problems with his children because they are different. 

Meenah is playing football with the boys, while Earnest looks on admiringly. Tariq and Stella make out while Stella’s best friend, Peggy, looks on with jealousy. Ella and Annie help customers in George and Ella’s fish and chips shop. George listens to the radio for news about the Indo-Pakistani war and worries about his relatives who live close to the East Pakistan border with India. Ella tells George that if he brings his first wife to England, she will leave him and take the children with her. George plays it off with a joke. 

When the van arrives to take the children to the mosque, Sajid runs and hides under the bed. George drags him out and takes him to the van. The other children also arrive reluctantly as George reproaches them. Outside the mosque, Sajid pees in sight of other children, and they notice that he is uncircumcised. 

Act 2

Sajid’s circumcision

The mullah complain to George about Sajid being uncircumcised, and George then confronts Ella about it. Ella says all the boys were circumcised. However, Annie checks and confirms that Sajid still has the foreskin. Sajid is afraid of having the operation, ...