It's good-looking because of the director's delicacy and the actors' performances. As Alice Wu, who directed the film for the first time, this film reflects her, as a Chinese woman, but also a gay, from the perspective of ordinary people, she made such a humorous and warm debut. power. And Michelle Krusiec, who played Wil, was nominated for Best Actress at the 2005 Hong Kong Golden Horse Awards for this film. The film also participated in the Sundance Film Festival, enough to show the film is not bad.
The story takes place in Flushing, a major community for the recent rise of Chinese immigrants in the United States. Two Chinese-American women with very different personalities: Wil, a shy and passive surgeon, and Vivian, a passionate and active ballet dancer, meet unexpectedly at a Chinese community dance that young people disdain to attend. From the eyes they looked at each other, they knew that there would definitely be development in the future.
The director's use of color is very real, the green background of the candy vending machine, the yellow and gold decoration of Vivian's house, and even the director of the road in front of Vivian's performance theater, specially asked to wash it with water to show the kind of effect she needs. In fact, only from the director's dubbing version did I know that the candy vending machine was a second-hand product that her crew members had traveled to many places to buy. It can be seen from the price of the candy: 50cents, where candy can be sold so cheaply now. The little details of Vivian's date with Wil are also heartwarming: small notes, sweet hot dogs. The whole film is always humorous: the scene where Wil fell, the dinner table fight when Vivian visited Wil's house, and the first time Chen Chong watched porn, all made me laugh. Humor is the expression of wisdom, which shows that the director is a smart person.
Since it was an independent film, the director did not have sufficient funds. From her self-report, she learned that the porn that Chen Chong watched was actually dubbed by her crew and his wife. The soundtracks in the film are all songs that the director likes, but they can't afford the copyright, so they try to get others to help cover them as much as possible. The bridge at the beginning of the film is also the director's favorite. In short, every little bit reveals the director's love for the city and the film.
Two contradictory main lines: the repressed homosexuality of the daughter + the family and social public opinion caused by the mother's unclear pregnancy, which makes the audience always tug at the heart and want to see who is the father of the child. In order not to let his mother stay at home and interfere with his life, and to reassure his grandfather, Wil started to set up dates for his mother. And Wil and Vivian's seemingly peaceful and beautiful dating actually hides a big problem: Wil's shame about this relationship makes them never come out of the closet, and have been secretive like underground lovers---a relationship like this won't last long. Finally, two contradictions broke out, but let's hold our breath and see what the outcome will be.
This film is also a letter from the director to his mother, I hope she can understand her painstaking efforts after watching it. As Wil said to her mother Chen Chong in the film: Mom, I love you; me too, gay.
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