Saving Face(2004)

Intimate, serene, and rich both in theme and narrative. I enjoyed this so much. Between The Wedding Banquet in 1993 and this in 2004, it's kind of comforting to know that while we didn't always have good amount of representation, we've had good quality representation for a long time. Now we are just missing a trans version.

Cho's date with Ma stirred me in ways that I really didn't expect. In an opening salvo to their first date, Cho declares "I want to treat you well and make sure you live in comfort and free of worry for the rest of your life. I'm happy just to see you happy." What a thing to say on a first date, but the earnestness in his voice made my heart flutter a little. Is this supposed to feel romantic? Would I be swayed if someone who I am not attracted to at all, just said this to me on a first date?

Ma then asks him why he doesn't want to marry someone younger than she is, since he must have good options from being wealthy. He says "Young people. Today they say they love you. Tomorrow, who knows?" That catches Ma off guard and she grows pensive for a moment. We find out later the obvious reason why, but I wonder in that moment if she is also thinking whether she is capable of the same mercurialness to the person sitting in front of her. Poetic that Cho is wounded in the most devastating way possible by Ma in the end, which goes to show that it's "tomorrow, who knows?" no matter how old they are.

I agree that the over chemistry from the two romantic leads are somewhat lacking, but the one scene where in an attempt to avoid intimacy, Wil literally falls for Vivian was enough to carry me through the movie. 

Part of me used to wonder the point of films like this, because the people who most need to see this are not the ones seeing it. But actually, I'm going to recommend it to my parents this week.

Saving Face managed to tell two intricately interwoven stories with aplomb in 90 mins. Can't help but make me think of Verity which I saw yesterday that took 2 hours to not be able to stitch together half a decent story. Sorry I keep going in on it but that was so bad.