Tag: immigration

PAST LIVES – Review

(L-R) Teo Yoo as Hae Sung and Greta Lee as Nora, in PAST LIVES. Photo Credit: Jon Pack. Courtesy of A24

In South Korea, two close childhood friends, a boy and a girl, both nearly 12, are separated when the girl’s family moves to the United States. Twelve years later, they reconnect, although he’s still in South Korea and she’s in New York, in Celine Song’s impressive drama PAST LIVES.

PAST LIVES is a romance of sorts but not like you imagine. What it is, however, is a moving drama with a brilliant script, brilliantly acted and filmed, and masterfully directed by Celine Song, who also wrote the script. Spanning decades and half the globe, PAST LIVES explores how once-close people both reconnect and diverge over time and distance.

One could describe PAST LIVES as an intelligent person’s romance. Making a romantic drama where the audience truly is on the edge of their seat is no mean feat, yet PAST LIVES does just that. In part it is because it avoids some of the tropes of romance but where some familiar elements are unavoidable, it breaks the rules by having the characters talk about them and dissect them, giving the feel of both realism, conveying the characters’ intelligence, and adding a sly humor.

As bright children and close friends in South Korea, she is the ambitious one, the girl who always gets the top grade, with her friend a close second, but who cries when that doesn’t happen. He is patient and supportive with the crying girl, as she calls herself, and he is comfortable in her shadow in second place.

She confesses to her sister that she has a crush on her friend.

He is distressed when she tells him the family is emigrating. She says it is because they want to give her, their gifted daughter, more opportunities to succeed. It is a bit more complicated than that, but at that time, South Korea is in economic doldrums.

Before the family leaves, the girls pick “American names” for themselves and she picks Nora. So Nora has a good last memory of her crush, the mothers arrange for Nora and Hae Sung to have a “date” in a playground, with the moms nearby.

Each pursue their education and career goals, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) as an engineer in South Korea and Nora (Greta Lee) as a playwright in New York. After 12 years, Hae Sung finds Nora online, and we realize that he shared her childhood crush.

PAST LIVES delivers a moving, bittersweet but refreshingly real drama that plays out over time, as the two both connect and don’t, while the time passes and cultural experiences diverge.

This is writer/director Celine Song’s debt feature film but you would never guess that, as she has long experience in theater. The story was inspired by a moment of personal experience, as she sat in a bar with her husband and her Korean childhood sweetheart, translating between them and realizing they would never have met but for her.

As Nora, Greta Lee impresses constantly, with her ability to portray Nora at various points in her life and to convey complex, nuanced emotions with startling clarity. Handsome Teo Yoo’s character is less expressive and open than Lee’s Nora, and the character’s opaqueness adds a layer of tension throughout the drama. While the film has a romantic thread, it also has a sustained tension. As these two progress in their lives and reconnect periodically, the drama also explores the immigrant experience over time, something rarely done.

It is hard to overstate how finely crafted, emotionally effective and dramatically efficient this drama is. On top of the script’s moving story and beautifully built structure, it is visually impressive, with spare use of striking shots at just the right moment. One of those comes late in the film, as the childhood friends talk with the Statue of Liberty in the background and another in the film’s final shot, one that goes back to the childhood.

PAST LIVES is an impressive drama, that combines a fresh and real take on romance with different tale of immigration, further elevated by excellent performances, strong and spare story-telling and skillful direction from Celine Song.

PAST LIVES opens Friday, June 23, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

BLUE BAYOU – Review

(L to R) Sydney Kowalske as “Jessie”, Justin Chon as “Antonio” and Alicia Vikander as “Kathy” in BLUE BAYOU, a Focus Features release.
Photo credit: Focus Features. Courtesy of Focus Features

Is it fair that a small child, legally adopted from another nation, is responsible for paperwork errors about citizenship, which puts the now-grown child’s immigration status in jeopardy? It sounds ridiculous but, in fact, that legal loophole does exist for some adoptees. BLUE BAYOU is Justin Chon’s powerful, winning drama about this subject, in which writer/director/producer Chon both directs and plays the lead character, Antonio LeBlanc, a struggling New Orleans tattoo artist who was legally adopted at age 3 from South Korea but now faces deportation due to paperwork left incomplete by his adoptive parents. This powerful drama features nuanced, appealing and realistic performances by Chon and Alicia Vikander, as his pregnant wife, and a wonderful performance by Sydney Kowalske as her seven-year-old daughter Jesse. BLUE BAYOU mixes a warm, realistic portrait of a family, with a particularly close father-daughter bond, with searing emotion in scenes where Chon’s character faces the immigration legal system that could change his life.

Antonio (Justin Chon), now in his thirties, is trying hard to support his family and be a good husband to wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and father to stepdaughter Jesse, the only father she has ever known. Jesse’s biological father, a cop called Ace (Mark O’Brien), abandoned Jesse and her mother when Jesse was small, but now wants to be part of his daughter’s life. On the other hand, Antonio has always been there for both Kathy and her daughter, despite his own troubled childhood which included abuse and youthful criminal record for the theft of motorcycles. Although they struggle financially and Antonio worries about money once the new baby arrives, the family is solid, happy and enjoying life together. When an ordinary parental disagreement while shopping in a grocery store gets a bit loud, Kathy’s ex, a cop called Ace steps in, along with his racist partner Denny. There is a scuffle, and Antonio is arrested. While that charge is dropped, Antonio is taken into custody by ICE over his immigration status.

We do get that famous song in the title, sung by Vikander, a nice moment in the film. BLUE BAYOU is a real tour-de-force by Chon, handling both his roles as director and lead actor with impressive skill. Long before Antonio faces his immigration crisis, the family wins our hearts. Chon is charismatic on-screen and we can’t help but like Antonio and cheer on a young man trying so hard to do the right thing. Much of the film’s appeal is in its the relationships, and particularly Antonio’s relationship with his stepdaughter.

Although Antonio even has a friend who is an ICE officer, who tries to help, the law limits what he can do. It is a completely unfair situation but one that is not rare for international adopted children, and in fact Chon’s script was inspired by a real-life case of a Korean-born adoptee. Chon has dealt with issues faced by Asian immigrants before, including in his film GOOK. Being Asian makes it harder for internationally adopted children to quietly blend in, despite being culturally American, something Chon highlights in a telling opening scene. Antonio, interviewing for a better paying job, faces skepticism about his identity despite his Louisiana accent and politely answers racist questions about his name and where he is from. Once immigration steps into his life, Antonio’s settled life is imperiled particularly by his youthful criminal record for stealing motorcycles, a past he has been struggling to overcome as a upright family man.

The film does a nice job with the accents, which sound authentic for New Orleans but are never overdone and distracting. Before Chon’s Antonio faces his unfair legal situation, the character wins our hearts, as does the film’s little family. Much of the film’s appeal is in its characters. One of the joys of the film is how realistic relationship is between the couple is portrayed by Chon and Vikander, with all the back-and-forth of real life parents and daily disagreements between any couple but with the underlying love between them. It is a realism few films get so right. The chemistry between Chon and Vikander is strong, and Vikander turns in one of her best performances here.

Likewise, the relationship between seven-year-old Jesse and Antonio, the only father she has ever known, is realistic and charming, and completely wins our hearts. Young Sydney Kowalske is cute, sweet, and believable in her role as Jesse, and the appealing scenes between father and daughter are among the film’s best.

Chon does have a message he wants to get across, and the film is sometimes heavy-handed in how it does that, although by the film’s end, his pull-no-punches approach feels justified. In 2000, Congress passed a law granting citizenship to children adopted from overseas but, oddly, excluding those who turned 18 before the law was passed. It makes no real sense, and drawing attention to that legal flaw may correct it.

The film is a bit slow to start, with a few too many scenes where Antonio revisits the same memory of his birth mother, and there is a side plot about another Asian immigrant, a cancer patient who immigrated with her family from Vietnam, which seems to add little to the story, other than portraying a different Asian American experience.

However, the film kicks into a higher gear once Antonio gets entangled with the immigration system, and leads to some emotionally searing scenes, ones that might leave the audience emotionally moved and also angry at the film’s end, with a few real-life examples of this unfair system shown with the end credits.

But any flaws in this film are well counterbalanced by the warmth and charm BLUE BAYOU creates around this family. Chon sparkles with on-camera as Antonio, creating a lead character we can’t help but like and cheer for, as the dad and husband who is trying to do the right thing. The wonderful acting performances by Chon, Vikander, and young Kowalske especially, go a long way to support this worthy drama.

Supporting performances are also strong. Vondie Curtis-Hall plays as immigration lawyer Barry Boucher who tries to help the family and Mark O’Brien plays Jesse’s biological father Ace, who develops more layers than we expect as the man who now regrets abandoning his daughter. Linh Dan Pham is touching as Parker, the cancer patient Chon meets, who introduces him to her family and a represents a different Asian immigrate experience. Emory Cohen plays Ace’s racist partner Denny, an all-round jerk, the one character who is a bit too over the top.

Despite a few flaws, this is a strong film that blends an appealing family drama and charismatic lead character with a hard-hitting message about an absurd technicality with the potential to ruin lives. Overall, BLUE BAYOU is a powerful film, filled with strong performances and delivering an important message with a punch, a drama that warrants to trip to the theater and also might be one watch come awards season.

BLUE BAYOU opens Friday, Sept. 17, in theaters.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

LIMBO – Review

Vikash Bhai (left) stars as “Farhad” and Amir El-Masry (right) stars as “Omar” in director Ben Sharrock’s LIMBO, a Focus Features release. Cr. Courtesy of Colin Tennant / Focus Features

A young Syrian musician and a motley collection of other refugees wait on a remote Scottish island while the British government decides their asylum claims, in writer/director Ben Sharrock’s wry funny, poignant LIMBO. LIMBO paints a dryly comic, often absurdist tale of life in limbo, but it also takes us to unexpected places, just as their journey took to them to this unlikely spot.

LIMBO features excellent direction, a tightly-crafted script, fine performances and stunning photography of the harsh, windswept island landscape. This smart, well-crafted film, both funny and touching, was a BAFTA nominee and a winner at the British Independent Film Awards and the Cairo International Film Festival.

The British government has sent this group of refugees to a distant, sparsely-populated, fictional Scottish island to await their fate. The story focuses mainly on the young Syrian musician, Omar (Amir El-Masry), who is both a comic and pitiable figure with his hand in a cast but clutching the case with his musical instrument as he wanders this windswept island. He joins a group that includes Farhad (Vikash Bhai), an Afghan refugee who is a member of a religious minority as well as a Freddie Mercury fan, and a pair of young men from Africa, Abedi (Kwabena Ansah) and Wasef (Ola Orebiyi), one of whom aspires to be a soccer star. One of the group opines that they were sent to this remote location because they are all the least desirable applicants – single men without families or special skills. Actually, the musician has a special skill – he is a talented musician from a family of famous musicians – but he plays the oud, a stringed instrument much beloved in Syria, although here, no one has even heard of it.

While they wait, the men spend their days attending comically-bizarre classes that are supposed to acclimate them to a new culture. The classes are run by a pair of former immigrants, Helga (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Boris (Kenneth Collard), who act out scenarios that are supposed to represent potential cultural misunderstandings, skits whose oddness leave the refugees staring in open-jawed disbelief. The instructors’ accents, a weird mix of their original ones and Scottish burrs, adds another bit of comic weirdness.

You can hear the humor potential in all that, and writer/director Ben Sharrock takes full advantage of that, but also uses the characters’ uniqueness to deepen them. Theater of the absurd is very present here, while the storytelling makes uses that to help make its points. In one telling scene, Omar stands on a desolate roadside, stoically listening as a group of Scottish teens berate and mock him for being an immigrant – but then offer him a ride. With little choice, the musician accepts, a perfect metaphor for his whole situation.

Filled with dry humor, LIMBO does not preach about immigrants but merely puts a human face on them by putting us in their shoes, particularly the young musician, as they wait in limbo for a distant government’s decision that will determine their fate. The comic elements are combined with pointed observations about the human condition, not just the plight of these wanderers, and some emotionally searing personal moments.

Omar is in limbo in more than one way. Separated from his family, he broods about his life. Omar’s oud belonged to his grandfather, a famous musician in Syria, and Omar was a rising talent himself before war tore his country apart. His family fled to Turkey but faced hostile treatment there, and Omar decided to take a chance in Britain, thinking his musical ability might give him a chance. His decision to seek asylum was paired with his brother’s decision to return to Syria to fight, a choice that caused a rift between them as well as separating the family, something Omar struggles with.

The photography is stunning, and adds enormously to the appeal of the film. Time and again, cinematographer Nick Cooke frames the action against a back drop of pale, waving grasses and gray skies, and repeatedly transforms a stark landscape into painterly scenes that sink into our consciousness as we follow the characters struggles amid the waiting.

This excellent film uses humor and insightful storytelling to deliver a thought-provoking, unexpected, and deeply human tale that rises above just the issue of immigration to a more universally human place. LIMBO opens Friday, April 30, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, and Marcus’ Ronnies and St. Charles Cinemas.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

Review: ‘The Visitor’

Thomas McCarthy is primarily an actor (Year of the Dog, Michael Clayton, The Wire TV series), but I am far more interested in his directorial work. McCarthy’s first film was The Station Agent (2003) which I think is a superb film. The Visitor is McCarthy’s second outing as a director and is also very good. The film stars Richard Jenkins (*) as Walter, a college professor who finds himself stuck in a rut of dissatisfaction with his life and career. He pretends to be busy with his classes and writing his new book, but in reality he is longing for something more, something different, something unknown.

When Walter is sent to a conference to present a paper he really doesn’t want to present, he begins an unexpected journey of purpose by mere chance. Walter finds a young couple occupying his New York apartment when he arrives after being away for many years. As it turns out, Tarek and Zainab were misinformed about the apartment’s true owner and have been living there as illegal immigrants for the past two months. Walter decides to allow them to stay a few nights until they find new residence. The story follows Walter as he quickly develops a strong friendship with Tarek, who teaches him to play African drums and becomes a passion for him, filling the void he has felt in his life.

At the critical turning point in the film, Walter witnesses Tarek arrested for being an illegal immigrant and makes it his responsibility to do whatever he can to free Tarek from the detention center. Walter’s life is ultimately changed by his knowing Tarek, Zainab and eventually Tarek’s mother who visits from Michigan to try and help her son. The Visitor is not just a commentary on the issue of illegal immigrants in the US, but is actually much more. McCarthy does a decent job of not dwelling on the political emphasis too much, instead developing a heart-felt and emotionally fulfilling story of a man who learns that things change when you get to actually know a person, making all the politics seem unimportant.

* A Brief Q&A with actor Richard Jenkins:

. During this special screening of The Visitor, actor Richard Jenkins was present after the film to speak with the audience promoting the film and offered a brief question and answer session. Jenkins offered some great background on himself and on the film, also sharing some great anecdotes from working with Jack Nicholson on the film The Witches of Eastwick. Jenkins emphasized his love of the script as the reason he did the film (and mentioned that McCarthy apparently wrote it “for” him) and expounded on the intimately personal story that is a reflection on how our attitudes change about issues when we actually know people going through difficult times. Jenkins has appeared as a popular supporting actor in many films, including Silverado, Hannah and Her Sisters, Wolf, Absolute Power, Me Myself & Irene, Intolerable Cruelty, North Country, The Kingdom and the popular HBO drama series Six Feet Under. Jenkins appears in two new major films due out in 2008, Step Brothers with Will Ferrell and Burn After Reading by the Coen brothers.

[rating:4/5]