Mail Order Wife

I was completely fooled by this. I really thought it was a Documentary. I must admit when Litchi started screaming she wanted a baby and the part where the co-director's father secreted her off to a hotel room I did wonder if it was all a put-on. Just brilliant in sustaining the illusion of reality storytelling. Knowing in advance it's all a mockumentary does ruin it a bit but not knowing makes this an amazing piece of film making to watch unfold. Apparently this was all scripted but it comes across as completely spontaneous. I'd certainly keep an eye on this film maker in the future. He has an edge to him that is lacking in a lot of more mainstream Hollywood directors.

...but please let's not go too crazy over this movie! It was decent...hence my "5" rating. An extremely dark comedy with a great plot. However, at times (especially in the beginning), I was surprised this was even referred to as a "comedy."

Eugenia Yuan is clearly the star in this picture, and does a great job in her role. I hope this role will help give her the opportunity to appear in more movies.

Maybe because I saw it on DVD, but I knew this wasn't a "real" documentary. I'm surprised anyone could have thought this was real. Then again, I remember there were many people who saw "The Blair Witch Project" and thought it was a documentary.

The rating for this film might be a little misleading. Judging by the comments it seems that many of the people who gave it a low score did so out of the sorrow they felt for the main character, and the disgust they felt for the men using her rather than out of a low opinion of the quality of the film. I actually think that the people who gave this film the lowest score are some of the people who felt the exact way the filmmakers want the audience to feel.

This film reminds me of "Dogville" in a way. They both do a good job at demonstrating the immoral and vile behavior that humans can practice toward one another when it's self-serving, and the justifications they can give. (You wonder sometimes if people really believe what they put forth as their point of view, if they grow to believe it out of a need to relieve guilt or if they secretly live in the guilt, being eaten up and causing their often defensive and miserable dispositions.) Don't get me wrong, this film is no Dogville, but the filmmakers do a decent job at revealing this human flaw that is the bane of this society. It's mockumentary style allows us to connect the characters to their real life counterparts rather than tossing their awful behavior aside as just something fictional (though it was).

It was a smart film. It takes thought to make up for lack of budget, and that's why you find some of the best films in the independent film world. I have friends who are filmmakers (honestly, none worked on this film). I hope more filmmakers dig a little deeper, be it in comedy, drama, horror, or whatever. These guys made a film that stays with you past the last bite of popcorn. That's an accomplishment.

I'm from Burma and I wanna say, first of all, what the f_ck! This movie is outrageously wrong about Burma. The director is so f_cking ignorant that he doesn't seem to know what kind of people live in Burma. Lichi's sister was sold into slavery as a child of six to settle her family's debt. What the f_ck! How dare you f_cking ignorant Americans? There is no such case in Burma even though Burma is not a democracy. The movie also implied that there was famine in Burma. Wrong again, f_cking Americans! Burma is not like North Korea. And last but not least, Burmese girls are not desperate enough to go to America by marrying some f_cking ignorant, ugly Americans. This movie and the other reviews about it show me how f_cking ignorant the Americans are.

I was immediately engrossed in the film. It was a great story and the actors were believable as real people filming a documentary. It is one of those movies that you think about for days after wards and discuss the many rich details with people who've also seen it.

The fullness of the characters, the humor, the sadness -- just that slice of life's realities reminded me of another great sleeper film called "Simply Ballroom." (Though the stories are very, very different.) The entire there clapped when Mail Order Wife ended and you could tell that people loved it by their comments and smiles.

I wish this film had gotten more press and hope that it becomes more well known when it gets to video.