EAST-WEST

The French movie EAST-WEST compellingly examines the human capacity to survive and resist amidst the oppressive and seemingly hopeless conditions of Stalinist Russia. Centered around the efforts of a young French-Russian family to live with the impractical desire for freedom while facing the harsh reality of submission, the movie probes the core of human motivations – What do we live for? What keeps us going? What will we do in order to survive? How do we sustain hope in our lives? Somber yet uplifting, EAST-WEST ultimately offers a difficult truth – helping others survive sometimes requires a sacrifice that is seemingly beyond our own capacities.

Alexei Golovine (Oleg Menchikov), a doctor living in France with his young French wife, Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire), and their son Serioja decide to accept Stalin’s offer for all Russian emigrants in the West to return to the homeland and help rebuild the war-battered nation. Because of Stalin’s irrational paranoia that the large number of return émigrés are spies, everyone except for Alexei’s family is executed once they arrive or is sent to labor camps (a fate Alexei keeps secret from his family). The Golovines only survive because of Alexei’s desperate deal with the Soviet authorities – being a respectable doctor, he will become a “model” for returning Russian émigrés, demonstrating his patriotism and Mother Russia’s generosity.

The Golovines dream of escaping back to the West, but the threat of death or labor camps looms overhead. Even their expressions of despair and deep dissatisfaction are suppressed in order to avoid the many watchful eyes of the Soviet authorities. Unable to cope any longer with Alexei’s submissiveness, Marie drifts further and further away, eventually forming a kinship with their young roommate, Sacha (Serguei Bodrov, Jr.), an exceptional 17-year-old swimmer.

After Alexei hinders an attempt to get a plea for help to a traveling French actress, Gabrielle Develay (played by the magnificent Catherine Deneuve), Marie focuses her energies upon training Sacha to qualify for the European championship in Vienna. Once there, Sacha would defect and work to bring Marie to freedom. Their thirst for escape and unyielding determination give each other hope and strength. Despite overwhelming obstacles, Sacha does manage to escape, with disastrous consequences for Marie, who is blamed for corrupting Sacha with “Western lies” and sentenced to a labor camp. Hope dims as Sacha is forced to abandon his promise to help Marie as he must choose exile in Canada, and Alexei must denounce Marie to save his own life and their son’s.

The struggle and desire for freedom is not extinguished, however, as Alexei secretly plots for eight years for Marie’s release from the gulag, and for her and their son’s escape to West. Aided by the French actress Gabrielle Develay (who never forgot Marie’s plight), he daringly arranges their safe passage out of Russia, but the cost is high – Alexei must risk his own life, the lives of other unwitting participants in the scheme, and the chance he will be forever separated from his family. Alexei realizes there is a price to pay for the freedom of others, and his love drives him to make his ultimate sacrifice.

EAST-WEST features wonderful acting. The skills needed to convey the subtle and often unspoken emotions are readily apparent and a treat to watch. The grim reality of life under Stalin is communicated with the minimum of violence – just enough for the gravity of the Golovine’s situation to hit home.

EAST-WEST is a complex film, exposing viewers to elemental instincts of survival, love and freedom. While it doesn’t involve Christianity in the answer, it still provides an engrossing look at the fundamental forces that drive people. Director Regis Wargnier asks, “What is this indomitable breath, this small spark in the far reaches of the Soul…?” He finds his answer in humanity’s “instinct of life, ever-present, primordial….” A Christian would rightly observe that Wargnier misses God’s role in this “indomitable breath,” but his work still remains an impressive example of the strength and limits of our ability to resist oppression in the midst of death.

Furthermore, EAST-WEST acknowledges the lack of easy answers or solutions. Alexei had little, if any, room to maneuver, and the survival of some meant sacrifices of others. Life and freedom is a gift that others have paid deeply to give. Thus, unlike a fatalistic/nihilistic worldview, the movie gives deep respect to the power of love and hope in overcoming oppression. The only thing missing is that EAST-WEST doesn’t go far enough – survival is a gift, but a deeper level of truth would recognize and flesh out that the ultimate source of hope and redemption is found in God and his Gift.