Ping Pong

This is truly one of the great independent movies of all time. A profound story about our place in the universe. Lucy Sheen is perfect. She shines as a Chinese transplant who is torn between her cultural background and the London world she must maneuvers through. The rest of the cast is good, too. The situations and locations are all deeply imagined, opening up a world that comes alive in all its complexities.

Saw this originally in the theater, then went back and saw it again. Caught it on cable once several decades ago. Wish I could find a DVD copy. Why don't they made more movies like this--heartfelt, quirky, searching. Deeply moving for those who feel lost and adrift in their own lives.

Frankly, I've NEVER been able to understand why this movie didn't get better reviews or box office. I LOVED it! The story centers around the will of the owner of a Chinese restaurant, and is a delectable combination of cultural expose, mystery, comedy, and family angst.

What an intriguing view into the Chinese sub-culture in London - and the clash between traditional and new, one generation and another! The narrator of the tale is a young Chinese woman whose job it is to make sure that each one of the heirs does what the will requires before ANY of them can inherit. She exemplifies the cultural war within herself. She's a Chinese who doesn't speak the language, an almost-lawyer, and a warrior woman wrapped into one.

The characters are quirky and wonderful in and of themselves...AND they also all *learn* something about themselves and others during the movie. How about the wonderfully sweet old man who has lived in London for decades - illegally. He could tell you anything you wanted to know about the city, even though all he's seen are the roofs he traverses to get to work. Wait until you see what he has to do in order to get his inheritance!

Mystery pervades this film. Most of the mysteries get unraveled, at least most of the way, as the requirements of the will are brought into play. There is kind of a dissonant but satisfying harmony in how each sub-plot plays out to fit into the whole...a whole in my estimation that has something to say to all of us about what's truly important in life.

If you let the film speak to you, you will not be able to miss the irony and humor in the interplay of the family members as they do what they must to claim their inheritances. What I like is that the humor and irony are not mean spirited, but have the effect of bringing the story lines together to make this movie - in my opinion, an impactful "feel good" movie similar to, say, "The Secret of Roan Innish" or "Lone Star."

...and before someone else makes a detailed political statement about PING PONG, let me say that I'm not a valid Bravo fan. Granted, it's very entertaining with some delightfully humorous surprises as well as an interesting story. It's something that Hollywood critics would expect from the genre. Others, including myself, would find this pretty boring. Thankfully, a few nice touches including the "Woman Warrior" thing and the tall tower of glasses being poured with wine add greater interest. It gets a little slow towards the end, but tends to build back up later on. You can suspect how good an independent foreign movie is, and there's one way how. When there's a restaurant scene that has somebody filling spoonfuls of sugar into a cup of tea, it's a GOOD movie!

Ping Pong was - is a first for British Budget Movies. It deals with a section of British Society so long 'ignored' stereotyped and often ridiculed. The Chinese still today in the London of 2000 talked about as 'a closed community'. But have we ever tried to go half way to "opening" that community? Ping Pong deals with a thorny issue of Identity perceived not only from the Euro-Centric stand point but also from the Asiatic view point. Where does Elaine Choi stand -what is she? Until she is caught up in Sam Wongs wishes Elaine has never really thought about her idenity in this world. Sam Wong and his family change all this. Elaine finds prejudice on both sides from the place that she calls home -London and from the place that she's being told she should regard as her home - China and the Chinese.This film was a first dealing with the issue of bi-cultural identity. In 2000 it's central theme is even more relevant than it was when Ping Pong was first given a limited cinema release. Sadly this film did not spark of more interest in this section of British society neither have some deeply ingrained institutional preconceptions changed. It is a sad fact that the Chinese community is still one area of ethnicity where dodgy stand-up comics feel they can still gain cheap laughs. Three cheers to Palace Pictures -Malcolm Craddock and Michael Guest for having the guts at least to try something different.We need more Films like Ping Pong, better ones to carry on what was a truly remarkable and brave artistic decision. Po Chih Leong I think showed that in the right hands Britain does have some half decent British-Chinese Actors. Finally I think this film is a fitting tribute to actor Robert Lee who sadly died not long after the completion of post production on this film. Robert Lee's performance in this film I think is truly wonderful.

"Political angle aside, sideswipes about China's communist apparat are only to be expected, PING PONG primarily earns its stripes as a treatise about a young British-Chinese woman's double consciousness in forging her own identity in an occidental capital without obliterating her ethnic roots, like the "woman warrior" she watches on television or reads in the picture-story books when she was young, Elaine is fascinated by her cultural background, but at the same time, as a modern woman, she is dismissive of its shibboleth, so revered by the older generation, perhaps, that is why she finds kindred spirit in Sam's younger son Mike (Yip, the most naturalistic performer among the fold), who looks totally anglicized on the surface, which, in time, will be encroached by the oriental filial obligation."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks