DVD Corner

The East Blu-ray Review

“The East” is an engaging movie with a message.

The plot: Sarah, who works for a private intelligence firm, is assigned to infiltrate the environmental terrorist cult group known as the East. Now, the East doesn’t murder anyone, but they attack various shady corporations by giving them a taste of their own medicine so to speak (and in one case, literally). As Sarah tries to find a lead to the group’s whereabouts, she manages to meet a man who leads them to their homebase. While initially weary of the group members, she finds herself becoming rather attached to the generally kind hearted people (led by the idealistic Benji). Sarah soon discovers that there is more than meets the eye to this group and that many have them have actually been personally wronged by corporations. Moreover, Sarah begins to question her mission as she learns that things are decidedly more complicated than she ever expected them to be.

Having not been impressed by Brit Marling’s past scripted work, I wasn’t expecting much going into “The East.” Thankfully, Marling managed to surprise me here by delivering a thought provoking movie about injustice, right and wrong, the corporate world, the environment, and change. While the movie could have easily veered into preachy territory, writers Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij manage to avoid that by not really taking any sides. It’s a movie meant to evoke discussions and in that respect it succeeds.

Now, some have criticized the slow pacing and the ending, but personally, I wasn’t bothered by either. Is this movie perfect? No, but I admire any original work that takes its time and focuses on character and plot. In this day and age, that seems to be a tall order as many films seem to be in a hurry to finish. It’s nice to see a film that lets the characters breathe a little.

On the subject of the characters, I have to say that I found the performances to be satisfactory across the board. Alexander Skarsgard and Ellen Page shine in their respective roles, but it’s rising star Brit Marling who carries the movie. Had her performance not been as interesting as it was, the movie would have never worked as she is the key to the entire story. We follow Marling’s character into this mission/journey. She is the audience’s in.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.35:1 1080p. How does it look? Fantastic. I was especially impressed with the colors here.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? music dialogue good

Extras:
* Fox trailers including a theatrical trailer for “The East.”
* 4 deleted scenes including an alternate ending.
* ‘The East Exposed: The Story”- Cast and crew members discuss the story of the film.
* “Off The Grid: Creating The East”- Brit and Zal talk about how the script and ideas came about.
* “Casting The East”- A featurette about the cast.
* “Two Brothers: Collaboration”- A featurette about brothers Zal and Rostam Batmanglij and their working relationship in “The East.”
* “Cause And Effect: The Movement Of The East”- A featurette about the all too relevant ideas that this film presents.
* “Examining The Moral Gray”- Footage from a Q&A with Brit Marling and Zal Rostam Batmanglij from the Tribeca screening room.

Overall Thoughts: “The East” may not appeal to everyone, but if you’re up for something a little different, I’d recommend giving this one a rent.

October 19, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Alexander Skarsgard, Brit Marling, Ellen Page, The East Blu-ray Review