"Who's the Asian daddy?!"

[lishesquex]

I watched Saving Face last night and OMG it was awesome.  I've been meaning to watch it for a while but I kept putting it off.  I'm so glad I watched it though.


For 28-year old New Yorker Wilhelmina "Wil" Pang (Michelle Krusiec), life is a juggling act between a promising career as a surgeon and her responsibilities as a dutiful daughter.  Like the #7 train she takes to visit her Chinese family on a weekly basis, Wil is perpetually in transit between two worlds.  The expectations of the Flushing, Queens society she is from and the desires that alienate her from it have made Wil content to live below the surface -- even if it means playing an inadvertent game of charades with her widowed mother (Joan Chen) and the old world Ma represents.  The masquerade is comic even in its pain as Wil tolerates Ma's weekly set ups with eligible Chinese-American boys at the Friday Chinese socials; but it quickly becomes a farce when Ma's mask cracks first.

One night, Wil comes home to find Ma on her doorstep - pregnant.  Disgraced by the Chinese community, and with no where else to go, Ma moves in with her daughter, making it difficult for Wil to nurture her budding relationship with gorgeous dancer Vivian (Lynn Chen).  As her carefully compartmentalized worlds collide, Wil is forced to find her mother a husband, placate her girlfriend, and choose between breaking a cycle of keeping up appearances, or risk losing the girl she loves.

SAVING FACE is a romantic comedy about a daughter struggling to understand her mother's heart, which ultimately allows her to understand her own.  It is the story of unspoken loves, contemporary and culture taboos, and the journey of two women towards living their lives honestly.


Other unexpectedly cool things about this movie:

- The director has somehow produced a weird blend of Chinese and Western humour - it's like funny x 2.

- In the Chinese bits, the subtitles aren't literal translations sometimes, which makes it hilarious when I can understand both.  Like when the grandpa literally says:  "Menopause?  There's nobody in our family who suffers from menopause.  That's just a ridiculous American invention."  But the subtitles read: "Menopause?  Nonsense!  Only Americans freak out about menopause."  It's just funny to see old Chinese dudes use words like "freak out".

- Sometimes the characters randomly switch to Shanghainese in the middle of dialogue, which is mind boggling for me because I've never heard Shanghainese spoken outside of family events/gatherings.  And definitely never on TV or in a movie.

- Lines like "Who's the Asian daddy?!" 


This is the movie I will watch with my mum when I come out and if she takes it well.

Comments

[penstarr.livejournal.com]

wow - i really want to watch it now. I may have to search for it at the video store. :)

Do you think you will ever come out to your mum? Have you given yourself a deadline or anything?

[penstarr.livejournal.com]

I just put it aside at the local block buster... gonna watch it tonight! whoop!

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Wooot! That's awesome. :D I'm going to buy the DVD as soon as I find it.

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

My deadline is the next time I have a serious girlfriend.

Hey, maybe this is why I keep falling for unobtainable people - my subconscious is sabotaging my attempts at not being single!

[penstarr.livejournal.com]

that's why I used to do it - didn't wanna face the facts.

[(Anonymous)]

See? IIRC, you didn't seem too interested when I suggested it before, but that dancer chick was hot and so was the mom.

Glad you liked it.

[pebblin.livejournal.com]

That was me that said that. :\

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

I figured. There's something about your syntax and how I can only ever understand half of what you're saying. What's IIRC?

[pebblin.livejournal.com]

If I recall correctly. Good Lord. How do you not know these things?

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Because you're the only person I know who uses them!

[pebblin.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I miss IRC some days.

[tangledtale.livejournal.com]

Sometimes the characters randomly switch to Shanghainese in the middle of dialogue, which is mind boggling for me because I've never heard Shanghainese spoken outside of family events/gatherings. And definitely never on TV or in a movie.

I NEED TO MAKE YOU WATCH THE WEDDING BANQUET AND WONG KAR WAI FILMS THEN. It's somehow so satisfying when you hear it being spoken on screen though, right? I made my tute discussion on The Wedding Banquet specifically about the one scene where the girl talks to her Shanghainese parents on the phone just so I could be all like 'DUDE, REGIONAL DIALECT REPRESENT'. Although for reasons beyond my comprehension, this made my tutor laugh at me. :|

Actually, this film sounds almost like a gendered reversal of The Wedding Banquet except with overseas parents instead of immigrant ones. Because that movie was all about the crisis of the traditionally confucian patrilineal family in the face of a son's homosexuality. So it was very much about the main character Wei Tung (male) and his father. But still, funny because I could identify so many elements of my family in the fictional depiction - a whole bunch of cultural elitism for one. :D

[tangledtale.livejournal.com]

I meant, "with immigrant parents instead of overseas ones". Urgh.

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

I got what you meant. :)

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Which tutorial was this?

I'll watch The Wedding Banquet if you watch Saving Face! We should have a movie night.

[tangledtale.livejournal.com]

It was a tute for that Sex and the Cinema class I did. Easiest presentation ever since one of my subjects from the previous semester already covered the whole 'globalization of sexuality' thing and the guest lecturer didn't show up that week so no one (including the coordinator who took over the lecture and my tutor) had any idea what we were meant to be talking about. I was able toe mislead everyone with my wildly unfounded conjecture! Huzzah!

And yes, this movie sounds really fun. I'll have to um rent the movie though because the only copy I have is a DVD from China which only has Chinese and French subtitles.

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Ahh, that subject! What did you say your lecturer's name was again?

Or you could buy the DVD for me for my birthday *pointed look/cough/glare/hint* and we can watch it together. ;)

[tangledtale.livejournal.com]

shit. oh shit. Um...Happy Birthday?! Sorry! Me love you long time!

My lecturer was called Djoymi Baker, I think? I'm not sure if that's the right spelling. Oh god, don't tell me she's like on your friendslist. *is paranoid*

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :P

Hmm wrong one. Who was the one I was asking you about on the train? I can't even remember why I was asking you about her. Was it something to do with Xena?

[tangledtale.livejournal.com]

Sorry again!

I can't remember which academics we covered on the train? Djoymi was the one who wrote a phD on Star Trek and mythology and won a prize for it? None of my other lecturers this semester were women. Unless you're talking about Fran Martin? Who taught me for that Gender, Sex and Culture subject that you did in second year (but it was called something else) and we were trying to figure out if you had her as well?

I don't know. It's best not to relive our conversations. It's too humiliating and results in massive blows to the ego.

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

It's okay, but only cos I love you, bb.

YES, she was the one! I have instant <3 for anyone who writes a phD on Star Trek and mythology. That's the awesomest thesis I've ever heard of. AWESOMEST.

I don't remember doing a Gender, Sex and Culture subject in second year. I did History of Sexualities and Violence and Gender in second year. Didn't have a Fran Martin.

> I don't know. It's best not to relive our conversations. It's too humiliating and results in massive blows to the ego.
THIS IS SO TRUE.

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Oh boy, you made him watch Twilight? :P

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

I want to watch that movie just to see Edward sparkle!

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

AhahahahahahaARRGH.

(That was the sound of me rupturing my spleen from laughing)

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

Aww, I was hoping it would be a clip of him sparkling in the meadow.

[zatapoiki.livejournal.com]

Ooh! I saw Twilight on Youtube! It was under the undercover name... "Super Busy Hospital", hahaha. It's been removed now though, otherwise I would link you to it. :)

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

That's quite okay. I'm sure my sister will end up owning a copy or something in the future. :)

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

P.S. your icon forgot "sparkly"

[mr-eccles.livejournal.com]

haha, I DID watch this with my mum :D
I think the dvd-cover failed to mention Wil's sexuality, so it was a nice suprise for us (although i'm sure mum assumed that I knew, which i didn't). I was already out to her though! :)
I thought it was a great movie, it made me question my level of soy sauce usage. hmmmm. deep.

[lishesque.livejournal.com]

I was already out to her though! :)
Lol, lucky for you! Nothing more awkward than watching an unplanned gay sex scene with your parents.

Let me guess, you drown your rice in soy sauce too? :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/selina_/]

Ooh, yay. I love this film <3

[jailbaitjello.livejournal.com]

OMG I LOVE THIS MOVIE.

And yeah, I wanted to show this to my mom over the summer, but I chickened out. Since seeing this movie though, there have definitely been moments with my mom where I'm like... "wow, this is such a Saving Face moment". I had one just last week, actually.

But yes, while I love this movie for a lot of reasons, I think I might love it most because of Wil and her mom's relationship, rather than Wil/Vivian.

And yes, love the humor. It's like inside jokes x 1 million. XD

Yeah, I noticed the same thing about the subtitles, and the Shanghainese. Um, Lust, Caution has some (bad) Shanghainese. In the Mood for Love has some Shanghainese too. Joan Chen is from Shanghai, IIRC.