MovieChat Forums > The East (2013) Discussion > Who else was in awe of this?

Who else was in awe of this?

posted 11 years ago by HypnoticPoison7
20 replies | jump to latest

I was really impressed by this movie, and I think it couldn't have come out at a better time. Which is really interesting, considering Brit and Zal actually wrote it years before releasing it, and it really works even better now--not just as a movie, but as an eye opening experience. It really blew me away, I thought it was one of the best movies to come out in the last decade. The ending was especially important and dear to me, but I love that they were working towards a real message the whole time. I don't think the anarchist group was represented as purely righteous at all, I think they were shown to be obviously biased and flawed as well, but with good reason. I think after this movie, Brit and Zal could form their own Anonymous-esque group and have a huge following if they wanted. Brit was absolutely dazzling in this, I really wish she could get nominated for an Oscar already.
If you liked The East, have you seen Sound of My Voice and Another Earth yet? How do you think they compare?

[–] emma 27 11 years ago

I really liked all 3 movies, Brit Marling is stunning to watch, and I love intelligent, emotional, character-driven stories. For me, Another Earth is the best because it just struck me to the core. Everyone knows what it feels like when you are lost and want to hit the restart button, and I think that film captured that mood perfectly without being bleak. There was hope at the end. But all 3 were excellent films.

[–] AgentBlue 11 years ago

I did like it yes one of the best films I have seen in quite some time and I was surprised that this was made by the same people as Another earth I mean I knew it had Marling in it but until I saw the credits I didnt know it was the same team.

Lose the Game!!!!!!!

[–] barry79 11 years ago

I'm glad that you mentioned the ending, unlike a lot of otjer posts on here. The fact that she chose her own path, and made use of screen time to ask a "source" for guidance shows that during this movie, her character spent time on both sides of a teetering spectrum, and decided to do what she thought was right... Which probably outweighs everything else. Her other two choices were self serving, and it was nice to see someone go completely against everything. The ending was a abstract balance of something new after having a successful, yet unfullfilling career to finding passion in chaos and danger, and leaving both behind for what she believes is right.

But it's also just a movie.

[–] RealVirtuality 10 years ago

Perfect :)

[–] bootblack987 11 years ago

I'm in awe of Brit Marling and everything she does. One of the smartest actress, writer, producer, directors out there!

[–] IsleOfDogs 10 years ago

Yes this was one of the better films I've seen this year.

Brit Marling's best performance, I thought.

All good films, but I thought: The East > Sound Of My Voice > Another Earth.

[–] monstermayhem32 10 years ago

Think the subject matter particularly the environment was a rather interesting take.

[–] BleekersPorkSword 10 years ago

definitly liked it, liked Sound of my voice a little more tho.

Jim Carroll: Time sure flies when you're young and jerking off.

[–] detroit-velvet-smooth 10 years ago

Goddamn. No wonder Occupy was a waste of time. People are actually impressed by this confused mess of a movie?

There was little political or social dialogue past some shallow stuff about throwing out perfectly good food. It was mostly an appeal to emotions which is idiotic because that cannot sustain any real change.

The real message was garbage. What did the ending say? Don't be a terrorist, just show people the mess created by unregulated corporate greed and they'll help you get the EPA to finally do something? Oh, but make sure you can steal a corporate intelligence firm's files, or else the one woman revolution is f---ed.

You people are actually impressed by this? F---k me....

[–] fatpie42 10 years ago

The suggestion seemed to be that strong capable people like the ones who were being used as corporate spies to uproot the anarchist groups, might actually be able to make a real difference without becoming as bad as the corporations they were criticising.

As for what the group actually said? They said that we throw away more than we need while people across the world are starving - which is true. They also said that corporations will dump dangerous pollutants in the cheapest way they can - which is true. And they said that pharmaceutical companies often care more about the money they will make than whether their drugs actually work - which is true (though as they note in the movie, normally you wouldn't expect such extreme negative effects from a drug that has received the proper testing).

If you think those messages are garbage, you may need to give some kind of an explanation.

[–] detroit-velvet-smooth 10 years ago

But thats not a message, those are just issues and facts, the raw material for starting a script from. By your definition a film can carry a powerful message just by showing us starving kids in africa regardless of what it does with that. Does that make it powerful? Does that make it relevant? Not automatically.

As an example, there have been dozens of Vietnam war movies. Many hit most of the tropes from that era, they cover the standard FUBAR stuff, but do all of them succeed in making a point worth making with that material? No, clearly not. A few do, and they go beyond the material being just a piece of the landscape of the story.

This film is basically a draft of an idea that got filled with dialogue, a few capers and dramatic moments and a twist here and there. Thats not a film that carries with it a powerful message, thats just a bad movie. It never coalesced into something concrete. Whatever affected people on a social or political level can only be shallow because there are no complex ideas here, just self evident things that this film doesn't add to.

Syriana and Michael Clayton are films that do an excellent job of taking subject matter that is relevant to our political and social landscape and make a point with it. This film did not.

[–] IcySpoon 10 years ago

Please, tell us how you really feel.

Cheers

[–] bora-bora54 10 years ago

Absolutely outstanding film!!! .. i metaphorically held my breath through the entire movie, just waiting for it to veer off in a direction that the big banks and corporations would want it to go, since i figure that they control so much of what we see in the media today .. i was pleasantly surprised that the film went exactly as i wanted it to .. it wasn't until i saw that it's a "Scott Free" production that i realized why it's just a good movie .. what a wonderful feeling it is just thinking that there might be people out there willing to seriously commit themselves to attempting to solve some of today's problems, like the one in this film for example, makes me not so depressed about the way things are, and gives me a glimmer of hope..