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East-West

1999, Movie, PG-13, 125 mins

East-West: Review

EAST-WEST | EST, OUEST | EST-OUEST
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"Pack up the samovar, we're going home!" At least, that's what a group of naive Russian ex-pats living in France think in this juicy tale of deception and betrayal. The year is 1946, during the reign of Crazy Joe Stalin; Russian-born doctor Alexei Golovine (Oleg Menchikov), his French wife, Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire), their son and a boatload full of returnees are lured back to the Motherland with Soviet passports, amnesty and a chance to rebuild the wobbly, post-war USSR. Barely off the gangplank in Odessa, the emigrants' hopes of a bright future are horrifyingly dashed; many are murdered on the spot, while others are shipped off to labor camps. The young doctor and his family are spared and sent to Kiev, with the warning that they'll toe the Party line or else. Their new home is a single room in a ramshackle communal apartment of informants and squealers, and Marie, stripped of her French citizenship, is miserable. But the newly minted Comrade Golovine ignores her pleas, and their marriage begins to crumble. Marie, however, has a couple of allies: visiting French activist Gabrielle Develay (Catherine Deneuve) and Sacha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.), an aspiring 17-year-old swimmer whom Marie befriends, coaches and beds. In order to get himself and Marie out of waterlogged Kiev, Sacha masterminds a series of risky schemes worthy of the KGB, and everything is resolved in a surprising French twist of fate. It's easy to see why this was nominated for this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar race: Director Regis Wargnier snagged the prize in 1993 with INDOCHINE, and the performances are attention-grabbers, especially those of Bonnaire and Bodrov (his dad, Sergei Sr., shares a writing credit). But it's Deneuve, in little more than a cameo, who commands your attention and doesn't release you until she's good and ready. (In French and Russian with English subtitles) leave a comment --Stephen Miller
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