east or west venture into a time ( post wwii ) when the iron curtain shroud stalin soviet union and a curtain of suspicion and distrust shroud every soviet life . the film follow a french family of three a the patriarch return to his russian homeland where he and his family be hold prisoner of conscience by communism . the film focus on the character and their silent suffering and yearning for freedom while living in a state of constant paranoia a it tear husband from wife and mother from son and and heroism emerges from the most unlikely place . east or west be an entertaining watch for all and and though fictional and offer a sense of what the cold war be about .