East/West (1999)

In June 1946, Stalin invites the Russian exiled from the 1917 Revolution to return home. When the ships comes ashore in Odessa, the passengers are divided in two groups and one of them is ... See full summary »

Director:

Régis Wargnier

Writers:

Rustam Ibragimbekov (as Roustam Ibraguimbekov), Sergei Bodrov (as Sergey Bodrov)

Stars:

Oleg Menshikov, Sandrine Bonnaire, Catherine Deneuve

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oleg Menshikov	...	Aleksei Golovin (as Oleg Menchikov)
Sandrine Bonnaire	...	Marie, his wife
Catherine Deneuve	...	Gabrielle Develay
Sergey Bodrov	...	Sasha Vasilyev (as Sergueï Bodrov Jr)
Ruben Tapiero	...	Seryozha, age 7
Erwan Baynaud	...	Seryozha, age 14
Grigori Manoukov	...	Pirogov
Tatyana Dogileva	...	Olga (as Tatiana Doguileva)
Bogdan Stupka	...	Colonel Boyko
Meglena Karalambova	...	Nina Fyodorovna
Atanass Atanassov	...	Viktor
Tania Massalitinova	...	Anastasia Aleksandrovna
Valentin Ganev	...	Volodya Petrov
Nikolai Binev	...	Sergei Kozlov (as Nikolaï Binev)
René Féret	...	Ambassadeur de France

Storyline

In June 1946, Stalin invites the Russian exiled from the 1917 Revolution to return home. When the ships comes ashore in Odessa, the passengers are divided in two groups and one of them is executed. Among the survivors are Dr. Aleksei Golovin, his French wife Marie and their young son. Marie is accused to be a spy, her French passport is torn up and Aleksei accepts to move to Kyiv with his family to save her. They are sent to a room in a communal house and soon Marie befriends the super, an old woman who speaks French. But she is denounced and killed by the government agents. Marie feels guilty and brings her grandson Sasha Vasilyev, who will be evicted, to live in her room with her family. Marie wants to return to her family in France, but Aleksei explains that they are imprisoned in Russia. Marie tries a contact with the leftist French actress Gabrielle Develay to ask for help to leave the USSR. While Marie gets distant from her husband, she gets closer to Sacha, who is a great ...

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Plot Keywords:

year 1946 | husband wife relationship | shot to death | swimming pool | denunciation | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and brief sensuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene by the Ministry of Interior in Kyiv was actually shot in the City Park of Sofia, next to the so-called "Party House" and the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence.

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Goofs

When Marie goes to the KGB building in Kiev and Alexei finds her there, persuading her to leave, the viewer can read a sign on the building that says, in Cyrillic letters, "Ministerstvo na..." This is a Bulgarian genitive construction, meaning "The Ministry of..." The only Slavic languages that show the genitive case in this fashion are Bulgarian and Macedonian. The genitive case is marked differently in Russian and Ukrainian, which shows that the "KGB" building could not actually have been in Kiev. This makes sense because the film was partially shot in Bulgaria.

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Connections

Featured in Femme Fatale (2002)

User Reviews

Hard to take but worth watching

For a guy who was a French communist until the age of 35, it was a hard movie to take, but it is a superb film, well acted and very realistic. My father was a french communist (the heart on the left and the wallet on the right) and he actually contempleted emigrating to the motherland of socialism when I was a kid, thank God, his wallet was heavier than his heart... Go to your video store and rent it, you won't regret it !

Details

Official Sites:

Russian Official Site Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

Russia Ukraine Bulgaria France Spain

Language:

French Russian

Release Date:

5 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

East/West

Filming Locations:

Burgas, Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$11,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$56,147, 9 April 2000

Gross USA:

$2,321,029

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,031,521

Company Credits

Production Co:

UGC YM, France 3 Cinéma, NTV-PROFIT

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1