¶ … Double Happiness
Mina Shum's 1994 movie Double Happiness combines cultural and parental friction with a touching coming of age story. Jade Li (Sandra Oh) is a young Chinese-Canadian who struggles to distance herself from her father's traditional set of values without becoming totally ostracized like her brother, who was disowned by their overbearing parents. Jade's father expects a lot from her: in his eyes Jade should be the ideal Chinese daughter, obedient and malleable to his image of her. Instead, Jade's creative energy and vivacious spirit help her blend well into Canadian culture. Her desire to be an actress widens the gap between her and her father. Their already strained relationship threatens to fall apart completely when she falls in love with a Caucasian man. Her forbidden romance and her forbidden career ambitions force Jade to ultimately choose between her family's wishes and her own.
Mina Shum illustrates the father-daughter conflict through intense and well-written dialogue, making the story accessible to a wide audience. Although the characters may appear one-dimensional and stereotypical, the actors do a fine job of fleshing out their roles. Sandra Oh's performance lights up the screen; Stephen Chang effectively portrays the stern, stubborn father whose love for his daughter is obscured by his fierce clinging to tradition. Callum Keith Rennie plays Jade's boyfriend with an acute sensitivity to his role. The film is strongly character-driven, which may cause some audiences to yawn and others to heave a sigh of relief.
Double Happiness offers audiences windows into a relevant segment of North American culture without resorting either to political correctness or caricatures. The clash of cultures is palpable and accessible to people of any background. The themes of the film are universal, even if they are specific to Asian culture in Shum's film. The fact that there is no clear closure to the conflict at the end of the film makes Double Happiness an even more realistic portrayal of Chinese-Canadian cultural and family struggles.
Movie Critique: The Pursuit of Happyness When it comes to film making, the subject of rags to riches tales have been one of the most common subject for many filmmakers. Most film viewers have watched a number of movies that revolve around a financially broken protagonist making it big. However, in the post Y2k era, it is a common perception among many that a movie has to be high on graphics,
BEREFORD'S DOUBLE JEOPARDY Double Jeopardy An Analysis of Bruce Bereford's Double Jeopardy Introduction to Film Professor Kim Elliott-White Double Jeopardy Double Jeopardy (1999) is a thriller by Austrailian director Bruce Bereford, which stars Ashley Judd as Elizabeth "Libby" Parsons, a woman wrongly accused of murdering her husband, Bruce Greenwood as Nicholas "Nick" Parsons/Simon Ryder/Jonathan Devereaux, Libby's husband, and Tommy Lee Jones, as Travis Lehman, a former law professor who is Libby's parole officer and eventually
In a mirror of the earlier scene where the police officer kicked the dead triad, the elevator doors attempt to close on his body, symbolizing the complete destruction of Chan's identity and humanity, as nothing is left but a piece of meat slumped on the floor. This scene effectively concludes the point made earlier by Wong's death, namely, that action films, and subsequently, the action film audience, simultaneously seek
film "Yentl" "Yentl" is a tale set in 19th century Poland, portraying a vivacious, independent little girl called Yentl from the Polish Jewish community, who was doggedly determined to follow her dreams despite knockbacks. Yentl obstinately wishes to pursue education in a community where academics, particularly Jewish religious learning, is strictly reserved for males only and is forbidden for girls. Posing as a youth, Yentl, however, flouts all societal rules and
Too bad the only thing suave about him was his outfit. Even if it was only as suave as it could have been if he'd kept the Armani from Barney's" (qtd in Naugle 52). In addition to this, is the constant spreading of lies and rumors to climb up the social ladder and the constant intrusion into the lives of other people could also teach teenagers to be uncompassionate and
1997) Face Off Face/Off John Woo (1997) Face/Off In 1997, John Woo directed Face/Off movie that is action thriller movie. The report studies the roles played by actors and the plot of the movie critically. It sorts out the quality of sounds used in the movie and the styles adopted by actors and directors. The movie uses concept of face changing faces which are not new yet the movie makes an effort towards elaborating