A Filipina follows her country music dreams
The indie film “Yellow Rose” tells a familiar story but does it in a wonderfully unfamiliar and regionally specific way.
Director/ cowriter Diane Paragas takes what could be a cliche — a naive young performer trying to break into the world of show business — and puts it in a contemporary Texas setting where worlds and cultures collide. The result is a sweetly earnest character study and comingofage tale that’s impressive because of its lowkey authenticity.
Eva Noblezada ( who made her Broadway debut in 2017’ s revival of “Miss Saigon”) is Rose Garcia, a teenager in love with country music who writes lyrics and plays acoustic guitar when she should be studying. In and of itself, that’s not all that remarkable, but Rose is Filipina, the daughter of an immigrant hotel maid. There aren’t many high school girls who look like Rose playing country music where she lives.
She doesn’t plan on playing outside of her bedroom until Elliot ( Liam Booth), a guy her age who works at the guitar shop where Rose buys her strings, gets her to sing to him. They’re on their way to Austin ( her first trip into the city) to see country singer Dale Watson ( playing himself ) at the Broken Spoke, and the trip is a revelation. Not only does Elliot discover that Rose has some vocal skills, but also Rose is emboldened about her true passion, putting her on a collision course with her hardworking, culturally conservative mother ( Princess Punzalan).
But Mom has problems of her own, namely her immigration status, that land her in hot water with ICE. And if the two of them have to go back to the Philippines, Rose will have to abandon what she really wants to do.
In some ways, “Yellow Rose” — out now during Filipino American Heritage Month — could be viewed as hopelessly unrealistic. Rose is on her own throughout much of the film, accompanied only by her guitar and a dream, and no one tries to take advantage of her. In fact, she ends up collaborating with Watson, who, it should be noted, spends more time acting in the film than playing music.
But that’s also the movie’s charm, painting a world where all you need is talent, a little luck and a couple of shoulders to cry on when things get tough. It’s a strippeddown “A Star Is Born,” without the rehab and suicide.