Evelyn Quan Wang (Michelle Yoeh) lives with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) and her father (James Hong) above their laundry business.
On this particular day, nothing seems to be going right - Evelyn and Waymond’s relationship is on the rocks, they are in trouble with the IRS, she is trying to get ready for the Lunar New Year party tonight, AND an inter-dimensional antagonist Jobu Tupaki is intent on destroying literally everything, uh, everywhere.
Reviews are a snapshot in time - they are not fixed and the writer is not beholden to that review/critique/twitter thread.
A critic can change their mind - and should.
We are all interacting with media at a specific point in time, and with society, with history, and in the midst of watching and thinking about new and old media.
This is a long, confusing way of setting up that this will probably not be my first review of the movie.
Enough reviews have used this word, but it is necessary - this movie is maximalist: in terms of mise-en-scene, editing, style of performance, number of narrative threads, locations, and different versions of characters.
There is so much going on, and yet it is all in service of its themes - ageing, regret for life decisions; the wonder/despair of ‘what if’; trying to understand parents/children; cultural differences between first and second generation immigrants…
Bleeding across numerous different realities, the film demands your constant attention.
The filmmakers keep the focus clear as Evelyn (Yeoh) works through the scars of her past, and gains new perspectives on her family and approach to life.
It is great to see Ke Huy Quan back - he is a face from my childhood, and there is a rush to seeing him get to play so many different characters onscreen, from goofy dad to post-apocalyptic resistance fighter to romantic lead. Hopefully his comeback is not short-changed by Hollywood.
As Evelyn’s daughter Joy, Stephanie Hsu is also terrific, managing to move between and merge different characterisations.
My personal highlight was seeing James Hong in a big role. He is a great, versatile character actor and he fits whatever this movie throws at him.
This movie has a metatextual emotional punch which is hard to overlook, but by the third act, it was the emotional catharsis of the onscreen characters/rocks which hit the hardest.
This movie could have been a gimmick, a vehicle that solely worked based on its cast, but there are parts of the movie where everything resonates as a piece - it is not the same but those early scenes of Evelyn trying to power through multiple tasks/characters/incidents that reminded me of my mum. While it goes a bit overboard in other parts of the film, that heightened combination of mise-en-scene, editing and camerawork captures the juggling act which is Evelyn's life.
I think I need another viewing - having a basic understanding of the movie, I will be able to experience it rather than trying to keep track.
The relationship between Waymond and Evelyn is the strongest thread - I felt like the conflict with Joy got a bit lost toward the end.
I wish I was watching this movie sans Twitter because writing this piece with all that nonsense in the back of my brain has been insufferable.
No comments:
Post a Comment