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Saving Face
2005
A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.. Read more
| Starring | Michelle Krusiec, Joan Chen, Lynn Chen, Jin Wang |
|---|---|
| Director | Alice Wu |
| Genres | Comedy, Gay/Lesbian, Romance |
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Saving Face
A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations..
| Starring | Michelle Krusiec, Joan Chen, Lynn Chen, Jin Wang, Guang Lan Koh, Jessica Hecht |
|---|---|
| Director | Alice Wu |
| Studio | SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 33 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy, Gay/Lesbian, Romance |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | Italian |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 12 Dec 2005 Production year: 2005 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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Ms Wu loves and understands her characters, especially the thorny and tradition-bound old folks, and her fondness for them bathes SAVING FACE in a palpable glow of affection
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Pleasant....A study in multigenerational guilt-tripping
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Most helpful member's review
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19 out of 23 people found this review helpful
Must See! Great for dates or with friends and wine.
Alice Wu, a Chinese-American lesbian, directs the story of Wil, a Chinese-American lesbian surgeon who meets Vivien, a Chinese-American lesbian ballerina. Oh and the surgeon's pregnant Chinese mother moves in (who only speaks in Mandarin).
Wu's film sublimely explores the relationships between the settled Chinese-American community in Flushing Meadows, Queen, NYC, a Chinatown oasis. Wil (a lesbian surgeon) hides her sexuality from her mother, to 'save face', when suddenly her mother (who is widowed) mysteriously falls pregnant and is forced to move out of Flushing and in with her, for fear of shaming the idyllic Chinatown. Mother and daughter begin to explore their relationship, with 'Ma' soon discovering the delights of dating in Manhattan, alongside hardcore pornography.
Though this may seem like the 'nichiest' of niche comedies, the fantastic comedy and inventive satire tampers the strong themes of repression and sexuality, so you don't feel as if you're being preached to.
I don't want to give much away, but it's a shame this film didn't get a UK cinema release, as the ensemble cast work hard to deliver this balanced comedy, which is frequently hilarious. Racism, sexuality, and the idea of portraying an image to impress others are are all themes tackled here; don't let this slip you by. Plus you can't really go wrong with chinese lesbians. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Customer Review
Very funny movie which is set among the Chinese community living in New York. Wil is an up and coming doctor who is a closeted lesbian. She begins to fall for the bosses daughter but picks a bad time to do it as her own (widowed) mother ends up pregnant without husband!
The two end up living together again while trying to find the courage to go against social and cultural 'norms' in order to discover and enjoy being in love.
The dialog changes from english to mandarin (with subtitles) in an easy to follow manner which actually works to enhance the humour. The acting did waver a bit from time to time, hence the 4 stars.
Otherwise, a top notch movie....and certainly one of the better movies that features a lesbian relationship!! -
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