I’ve been writing little film
reviews on this blog for about eighteen months now. I’ve almost always written
a review within twenty-four hours or so of watching a movie but I saw The East nearly a week ago. Whether due
my brief illness, boredom of writing or lack of interest in the film I can’t
say, though I think all three contributed. The trailer for The East was one of the best I’ve seen in recent months. It gave
little away and felt edgy and interesting. The film however doesn’t live up to
the trailer. I’m a big fan of Brit Marling and thought that her writing and
acting in Another Earth were superb.
Here she crafts a script which is full of intrigue and expectation but fails to
get to the heart of the issues that she is focussing her attention on.
I won’t go into much detail about
the plot as some of the characters differ significantly from what I was
expecting. All I will say is that there is a group calling themselves The East.
They’re environmental terrorists (or freedom fighters depending on your
perspective) who use tactics which can be best described as being ‘morally
grey’ to right the wrongs done by large corporations. Brit Marling plays a
member of The East but begins to question the morals of both sides as she
uncovers more about The East, the corporations and herself.
