East/west = Est/ouest

At the cessation of World War II hostilities, Soviet authorities allowed Russian citizens in exile back to their mother country. The Government promised prosperity and freedom, but delivered hard-line Communism, repression, brutality and a depressed economy. “East/West” follows the trials of one couple that experience a violent and humiliating repatriation. Alexei Golovin is a Russian doctor who in 1946 returns to the Soviet Union with his French wife and young son. Almost instantaneously the two are brutalised by the violent regime, in particular Maire (Sandrine Bonnaire) who is accused of being an imperialist spy. Sent to a decrepit communal housing flat, Marie rages against her fate, but Alexie cautions patience and tolerance as he tries to believe in the Communist rules under which they endlessly suffer. “East/West” is effective in displaying Marie’s desperation and despondency with her new life, but as the plot convolutions evolve, the film at times loses its momentum. Catherine Deneuve plays a French actress who discovers Marie’s plight whilst touring a play in Russia and sets about assisting her escape. Directed by Regis Wargnier (A French woman, Indochine). In French and Russian with English subtitles.