Going beyond ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
Lesser-known films offer compelling look inside Asian-American culture
In all the crazy hype over “Crazy Rich Asians,” it’s often said that it’s the first major Hollywood movie with an all-Asian cast since “The Joy Luck Club” in 1993. But that truth overlooks one little thing: from the late ’80s through the early 2000s, there was a wave of smaller indie films crafted by directors of Asian descent in America who offered a cinematic window into Asian-American lives in films with largely Asian casts. Here are seven such movies worth seeking out.
“Better Luck Tomorrow” (2002): Several people associated with this well-observed drama of Asian kids from Orange County, Calif., — straight-A students by day, straightup, dope-dealing gangstas by night — have gone on to bigger things. Director Justin Lin has overseen several of the “Fast and Furious” movies as well as “Star Trek Beyond.” Star John Cho straddles the worlds of the multiplex (the “Star Trek” movies, the “Harold and Kumar” movies) and the art house (“Columbus,” the upcoming “Searching”). Actor Sung Kang became a “Fast and Furious” fixture, Justin Tobin stars in an upcoming Cinemax series “Warrior” and Parry Shen is a regular on the soap “General Hospital.” Trivia notes: This movie was loosely based on real-world incidents that led to what was called “the honor-roll murder” of high school student Stuart Tay in 1992, and its title is the probable inspiration for the name of Houston chef Justin Yu’s acclaimed restaurant. “The Wedding Banquet” (1993): This early drama from Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain”) was groundbreaking in its day as it not only put the everyday lives of Asians in America on screen but that of a gay man within that community as well. Winston Chao (“The Meg”) is a successful New York “Chuppie”
(Chinese yuppie) leading a conflicted life. His traditionalist parents are urging him to take a bride while, unbeknownst to them, he’s living with his boyfriend. A marriage of convenience to a female friend sets events in motion that quickly spiral out of his control. “Chan Is Missing” (1982), “Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart” (1985), “Eat a Bowl of Tea” (1989): In the ’80s, the only times Asians were visible on the big screen were in either art house imports (the work of Kurosawa, for example) or martial-arts movies. Neither had much to do with the Asian-American experience. Wayne Wang helped change that with his low-budget yet sharply observed, stereotype-breaking glimpses into what it means to be Asian in America. Whether it’s a detective story of sorts (“Chan Is Missing”), a period-piece love story (“Eat a Bowl of Tea,” starring Russell Wong, who was tapped at the time as a potential crossover heartthrob), or a tale of aging and reflection (“Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart”), any viewer can appreciate Wang’s personal but universal stories. It’s no wonder he went on to direct the pioneering “Joy Luck Club” (which also featured Russell Wong).
“The Namesake”
(2006): Jhumpa Lahiri’s best-selling novel about the travails of a son of Indian immigrants, who’s caught between two worlds, was vividly portrayed in Mira Nair’s dramatization starring Kal Penn (Kumar of “Harold and Kumar” fame).
“The Debut” (2000): Filipino-American teenager Ben Mercado (Dante Basco) has all white friends, is embarrassed by the smell of his ethnic food and wants to go to art school, not med school as his father intended. This inevitably leads to conflict and family rifts in Gene Cajayon’s heartfelt, earnest film. An enthusiastic music/dance sequence, set at the birthday party for Ben’s sister, alone makes “The Debut” worth it.