By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Arthur Dong
Country: united_states
Year: 2008
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1052005/
Michael says: “Accomplished documentarian Dong has won acclaim for his earlier films, COMING OUT UNDER FIRE, LICENSED TO KILL, and FAMILY FUNDAMENTALS. He’s back with a film that he’s been working on for 7 – 8 years, HOLLYWOOD CHINESE, a look at the portrayal of the Chinese, and the opportunities for Chinese American actors and filmmakers in Hollywood films from the earliest days to today. Dong taps a wide array of Chiense-Americans to discuss this topic, from actor/filmmaker Joan Chen to author Amy Tan. The list of notables keeps coming: Nancy Kwan, Ang Lee, Justin Lin, Wayne Wang, B. D. Wong and Henry David Hwang. He also talks to non-Chinese actors who played Chinese like Christopher Lee and Luise Rainer who won an Oscar for her performance in THE GOOD EARTH. Rainer, who looked to be in her 90’s, commented on the fact that in today’s Hollywood, everything has to be so exact: if you’re playing Chinese, you must be Chinese, if you’re playing a tall man, you must be a tall man, but it wasn’t like that in her day. You were playing a part, it didn’t matter their nationality.
Perhaps the most interesting part of Dong’s film was a look at the earliest days of Hollywood and the lost work of actress/filmmaker Marion Wong and her 1916 silent film THE CURSE OF QUON GWON. Dong speaks to Wong’s three daughters and they tell the tale of her secret success that had become lost in history. Now fortunately, more people will hear of it. Nancy Kwan tells of her breakout success in THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG, and her sudden celebrity after appearing in the film adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s THE FLOWER DRUM SONG. Joan Chen discusses the difficulty of capitalizing on t her success in Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning THE LAST EMPEROR, and how she had to leave Hollywood to make her directorial debut, XIU XIU: THE SENT DOWN GIRL. Justin Lin tells how his slightly controversial directorial debut, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW spun into a Hollywood foray directing THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT.
While Dong does a fine job exploring his topic, the pacing seems a little bit off, and this genre of film has been done so many times with women in Hollywood, gays in Hollywood, African-Americans in Hollywood, etc., that it’s very difficult to do something new and original. A delightful, post-film Q&A featured the director and special guest Nancy Kwan who is in town for a discussions screening of THE FLOWER DRUM SONG. 3 cats
“HOLLYWOOD CHINESE was screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival”
Bruce says: “Katherine Hepburn did it. So did John Wayne. And Agnes Moorehead, Norma Talmadge, Christopher Lee, Tony Randall and Paul Muni. The most famous of all is Luise Rainer. What did these actors do and why?
“Those actors (and many others) played Chinese characters because Hollywood studios wanted stars in all the roles. In the first half of the Twentieth Century China was considered an exotic subject for film and the prevailing mentality was that Western culture could save China from its pagan ways. But Hollywood did not always portray the Chinese accurately. The most famous of all characters, Charlie Chan, spoke in fortune cookie language. Frequently the Chinaman played the role of the villain: gangster, gambler, murderer, opium pusher.
“Anna May Wong, most remembered for her role in SHANGHAI EXPRESS, was the most famous Chinese actress in Hollywood and was fortunate to make over forty films. Arthur Dong does not limit his focus to acting as he explores his subject thoroughly. He documents the Chinese contribution to American film history starting with THE CURSE OF QUON GWON: WHEN THE FA EAST MINGLES WITH THE WEST, a surprise find from 1916. The film was directed by Marion Wong and starred her sister. An appropriate amount of time covers the achievements of James Wong Howe, a two time Oscar winning cinematographer. Archival footage supports reminiscences and philosophies offered by many talking heads such as Nancy Kwan, Wayne Wang, Ang Lee, Joan Chen, Amy Tan, B. D. Wong, Tsai Chin and David Henry Hwang. Dong also tackles other issues such as the negative feeling generated when Chinese actors play Japanese characters (and vice versa) and the impact of Hong Kong imports on the Hollywood product. When we hear Luise Rainer (Oscar winner for THE GOOD EARTH who is still alive and interviewed specifically for this film) say that it shouldn’t matter who plays the role, what matters is that the role come from within, it is hard to disagree. Yet, as Joan Chen explains her frustration with years of unemployment due to racism in Hollywood, most viewers are likely to empathize. Chen also tells how a dialogue coach was hired to teach her pidgin Chinese for her role in TAI-PAN.
“In a particularly wonderful vignette, an audience member berates Justin Lin for making an anti-Asian film at a Q and A for BETTER LUCK TOMORROW. Roger Ebert Jumps up and rants at the man saying ‘you would never say such a thing were this a Caucasian film.’ How right he is. HOLLYWOOD CHINESE strikes a favorable balance being entertaining, informative and thought provoking. 4 Cats
“HOLLYWOOD CHINESE was screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival”