SYNOPSIS:
Follows a twenty-four hours in the life of Sasha, a young Chinese woman who is four months pregnant as a result of a fling back in Beijing. Interrupting her first year of college in Omaha, Nebraska, she travels to San Francisco to abort the child and confront her lover's male friend. But while there she meets the acquintances of many people including a family that gives her shelter and a prostitute that propels Sasha to her final decision in this thought-provoking tale of a stranger in a strange land of all promise and potential.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You may have loved Hong Kong born, America based filmmaker Wayne Wang’s more accessible films like The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Anywhere But Here (1999). But these two manipulating and moving movies are not a good gauge of what the Berlin International Film Award winner has churned out this time round. Considering this is the same director who made the chick flick Maid In Manhattan (2002) starring Jennifer Lopez, one may be taken aback with what this feature film has to offer.
The 77 minute film narrates the story of how a young Chinese girl, who is pregnant after a one night stand in her native country, goes on to San Francisco for an abortion and a confrontation with her lover’s friend. The exchange student who was studying in Nebraska interrupts her course work and is forced to make decisions which will affect the rest of her life.
If you are expecting a movie about a pretty and loveable princess character, we suggest you look elsewhere instead. Neither is this film screened at the 2007 Toronto Interntaional Film Festival a showcase of Nebraska’s scenic spots. What you should expecting is a gritty look at how life can be cruel to people who least expect hardships and adversaries to come their ways. The somewhat indie drama makes you think about what you’d do if you were in the protagonist’s shoes. With a name like Sasha, you can almost imagine the dramatic setups in store for the Chinese in a foreign land.
Based on a short story by Li Yiyun (Wang’s second collaboration with the writer after the more affecting A Thousand Years of Good Prayers), this tale would connect with audiences who can empathize with the female lead’s resolute and courageous journey in a foreign land.
The granular cinematography helmed by Richard Wong complements the rugged feel of the movie. Never heard of him? You have probably never heard of actresses like Ling Brian Dansforth and Pamelyn Chee either. But this is advantageous to a movie genre like this because you do not want star power to overshadow the naturalism of the movie. If you read further into this piece of art, you can pick out relevant issues like politics and globalization, which further confirms that this would not be everyone’s cup of tea.
But if you are interested in stimulating your intelligence (a baffling last scene included), then you may want to get this DVD to watch it alone, instead of playing it at a noisy party where your guests will chide you for this unconventional movie choice.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Since the cinematography is already grainy in nature, the DVD’s visual transfer isn’t all that bad. The movie is presented in its original English audio track.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted on 18 July 2009
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