![]() ![]() Running but a minutes shy of 140 minutes, the film is simply too long, and I can't help but wonder if that's truly because of excess fat around the edges, or simply because this story is too heavily layered to explore tightly, but either way, the final product is perhaps not very predictability because it's often so aimless. Actually, sentimentality is not the only reflection of subtlety issues, because whether it be through certain heavy-handed conflicts or, of course, through the thin portrayal of the male characters, thematic weight is often thrust against your head, and takes it time to do so. By that, I at least mean that ambition drives dramatic value to the point of melodrama, of which there shouldn't be much in this largely genuine drama, whose histrionic lowlights are a little hard to embrace in comparison to the whole of the drama whose genuineness is still, to one degree or another, watered down by sentimentality. The film has its conventional moment, maybe not to the point of predictability, but decidedly to the point of distinctly betraying a potential for surprising uniqueness, which is peculiar, considering that the film often overexplores its potential. Seriously though, if nothing else can be said about this particular Asian man, he sure made this film a good one, through all the shortcomings, that is. who I am only addressing because I love that his name is Wayne Wang. Oh yeah, you better believe that these women are joyous and lucky, because they got some distance from Chinese men, although they couldn't escape taking orders from a British Hong Kong-American director. but still be glad that you moved to American if you're a woman from China. ![]() Well, if this film taught me anything, it's that you should keep a firm grip on your past. Okay, maybe this film's portrayal of men isn't that thin, at least not as much as my racial profiling, but then again, I'm speaking from today about a film that was released mere months before they launched the Lifetime channel, so, you know, when looking at comparisons, this film's subtlety holds up well. I'd be a little more appreciative if the film was a little more respectful in its portrayal of Chinese men, although, in all fairness, any kind of man from Asia can get cartoonishly crazy. "The Joy Ruck Crub"! I know you chuckled, you round-eyes, no matter how much you want to appreciate this film for being respectful in its portrayal of Chinese women.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |