MPAA: Rated R for some sexuality and language.
Release Date: May 27, 2005
Runtime: 91 min
Country: USA
Language: English / Mandarin
Director: Alice Wu
Starring: Michelle Krusiec (Wil), Joan Chen (Ma), Lynn Chen (Vivian Shing)
[ official website ] [ trailer ]

Before coming into this movie, I had read rave reviews on its premiere at Sundance, and there was a lot of hype surrounding it especially in the lesbian and Asian American communities. It’s the first of its kind, a milestone in American movie history that features Asian American lesbian women as two of the three main characters. Yes, folks, that’s a triple minority right there, they’re women, they’re Asian, and they’re gay, and you don’t see that at all in Hollywood. And what better way to get this reviewer excited and worked up than to have a movie with characters that she can finally completely identify with, especially in a movie that does not fail to entertain.

In a nutshell, Joan Chen plays a hilariously frumpy (and I say frumpy because she’s not supposed to be GORGEOUS!) 48 year old widow, Ma, who gets herself into a pregnant predicament, gets kicked out of her parents’ house when she refuses to reveal the father, and moves in with her introverted, tomboyish, closeted lesbian, head-surgeon-by-40 genius, Wil, played by Michelle Krusiec, who’s in a bit of a predicament herself trying to have a relationship with an already out-of-the-closet, seductively bold, and beautiful dancer, Vivian, played by Lynn Chen (no relation to Joan Chen).

Saving Face is 100% an Asian American story. The movie is chock full of familiar scenes that many Asian Americans grew up with and still experience today. There are subtle little details, such as taking too many napkins, that made me chuckle just because I actually noticed. The movie takes place in the concentrated Chinese community of Flushing, New York, where hopeful mothers set up their children with their friends’ children, who do it only to appease their parents, at the local Chinese social gathering,. And what bubbled community doesn’t come with gossipy old biddies, who really ought to mind their own business? Yep, they’re in this story, too, because who else are we to save our faces from? Alice Wu made sure Mandarin was spoken along with English, and the result is the authenticity of language barriers that exist in generational gaps, especially between the earlier generations of immigrants as shown in one scene at the dinner table where Vivian uses more English words and “ums” when she tries to speak Mandarin to her girlfriend’s mother.

The meat of the story lies in Wil and Ma both finding their ways out of their silence and realizing their own happiness. Wil dutifully takes her mother into her home when Ma gets kicked out of her parents’ home as well as the Chinese community in Flushing because she doesn’t reveal the father of her child after her secret pregnancy is found out. Watching a couple well done scenes of Grandfather chastising his daughter for throwing away “a lifetime of face” is like a nightmare for this reviewer, and, no doubt, a reality for others. As for the closeted lesbian Wil, having her mother live with her causes problems in her new relationship with the bold and very out Vivian, who doesn’t particularly like Wil hiding their relationship from the world. In the end, Ma and Wil’s stories converge as they both learn a lesson in love that teaches them to be more vocal about their feelings and following their heart when it counts.

The movie is also bold enough to depict the racism that exists among the older immigrant generation. In a scene where Ma attributes Wil’s friend’s skin color to the fact that he soaks his bowl of rice in soy sauce, she vows to her daughter, right in front of the guy’s face, in Mandarin, that she will eat less soy sauce, so her baby won’t be as dark as he is. As ignorant as this behavior may be, it is seen to be more innocent than harmful, and the director successfully pulls it off without causing a riot in political correctness.

Saving Face is a sweet, endearing comedy that speaks to everyone, gay or straight, young or old, whatever ethnicity you are, and you can’t help but feel good as you walk out of the theatre. There is something for everyone to relate to, whether it’s familial obligation, being with the one you love, or even dating at the ripe old age of 48. I had so much fun watching this movie, with its wacky, down-to-earth humor, and of course, the Asian American lesbians. I could go on a tirade about lesbian politics and social awareness in the movie, but this isn’t a women’s studies class, and this movie is to be enjoyed, not dissected. Therefore, I will say the courtship between Wil and Vivian is very refreshing and cute, and that their love scene is a total turn-on, even to gay men. Saving Face is a rare gem of an Asian American film that opens the door to perspectives that have existed, but are invisible. It touches on familiar themes, and the characters are far from stereotypical. And this first film by the brilliant new director, Alice Wu, is a masterpiece.

Cat is a Contributor