Double Happiness

Mina Shum's Double Happiness bravely explores a group that mainstream film (read: Hollywood) continues to ignore: Asians in North America. That the film features strong acting, good writing and confident direction makes its accomplishments all the more greater.

You don't need to be Asian to enjoy this film, anymore than you have to be Italian to watch The Godfathers. Young women of whatever ethnic backgrounds are bound to identify with the lead character, finely played by Sandra Oh. The daughter-father conflict crosses all national boundaries, and is explored in this film through the eyes of Chinese-Canadians.

I'm a Canadian of Chinese descent, and found the characterizations of the family to be accurate overall. At times, the domineering Father is one-dimensional (tyrannical and cold) and needed to be fleshed out more. The role of the siblings--especially towards their parents--was underplayed and could have offered a contrast to the main relationship between the elder daughter and Dad.

Still, the strict traditionalism of the parents was on the nose, and the struggles of the daughter, Jade, ring true. In fact, I venture to say that Jade was played *too* obediently, and should have broken from her family sooner.

Following this line of thought, the film could have been expanded to explore Jade moving into her own home and finding her own career as an actress, then reconciling (perhaps) with her stern Father at the end.

As it stands, the movie ends abruptly and too soon. Shum and Oh do a fine job of getting Jade on the audience's side, only pull the carpet on her just as she leaves home. The movie begs for closure in the relationship between daughter and father.

Perhaps in the sequel.

This was a cute, sweet small movie about a Chinese-Canadian woman caught between her dreams and her father's expectations. Complaints about the film center on what some see as the director's one-sided depiction of the anti-assimilation viewpoint. Jade's father is so concerned that his children live within the constricts of traditional Chinese culture that he cuts off contact with them entirely if they stray. But Mina Shum (the director) never claims that his rigidity is the rule; the story is about how Jade deals with the specific situation, and it makes no claim that her situation is pervasive. Other Asian characters have different levels of acceptance of Western openness: Jade's mother, while not openly defying her husband, maintains contact with her son whom his father has cut off completely. So "Double Happiness" isn't an anti-Asian traditionalism screed, as some have claimed, neither is it an Everywoman story of freedom as some seem to want it to be. It's simply Jade's story about choosing between her dreams and the man she's falling in love with against her father's uncompromising worldview.

Mechanically, the movie is good if not a masterpiece. The performances are excellent. Sandra Oh is charged with almost singlehandedly winning over the viewer, and she's completely up to the challenge. All performances are (as far as I can tell anyway) wonderfully authentic. This was Callum Keith Rennie's first major role, and he's as awkward, sweet, and appealing as ever. The interstitial scenes of characters speaking to the camera are an interesting experiment--a good tool for revealing character, they nevertheless are sometimes jarring. Overall, the film is like a compact colorful flower: it won't dominate the landscape but it richly awards the lucky soul whose attention it captures.

Mina Shum wrote and directed this story of a Chinese-Canadian family in Vancouver with the central character being Jade (Sandra Oh). Jade's father Quo (Stephen Chang) is very strict about his children following old Chinese traditions and if they don't then they are disowned by him. So Jade actually tries to live two separate lives, one an obedient daughter who goes along with her fathers wishes (For the most part) and when she is out with her friends she can be a normal woman in her early 20's who talk about boys and goes to clubs. Jade wants to be an actress much to the chagrin of her parents and she goes out on auditions. One night she meets a man named Mark who is white and they have a one night stand. Jade's parents do not know him at first and fix her up on dates with Chinese men. They're is some excellent visual imagery in the film and in one scene Jade and Mark are on swings and the shot is in slow motion with a good and effective musical score to enhance the visual flair. In another scene a fed up Jade gets out of the car of another date and starts to run down the street. We are not told where she is running to but we must assume its to Mark. Sandra Oh's performance seems to be flawless. Watching her character ultimately give up trying to please her father is just riveting to watch. I've always been a big fan of Oh's and I thought she was equally terrific in "Dancing at the Blue Iguana". Oh takes the character of Jade and makes her not only smart and strong, but makes her very human also! When a casting director asks her how could she possibly think of herself as Chinese if she cannot read it, Jade at this point in the film questions herself and ultimately comes to a life changing decision. Mina Shums script is sharp and she doesn't portray Jade's parents as one dimensional. They have issues as well and it affects the lives of their children. Well written script gives Oh the opportunity to give a totally convincing and haunting performance.

An under-appreciated film (as many Canadian films are), Double Happiness expresses brilliantly the tightrope one often has to walk between pleasing others and pleasing oneself. Jade Li, portrayed masterfully by neophyte Sandra Oh, must choose between her desires for love and stardom and her desire to please her demanding, suffocating, ultra-traditional Chinese father. Her life complicates when she meets a sweet English major named Mark, played by Callum Keith Rennie, a hidden treasure of an actor; the scenes between Jade and Mark dynamically reflect the most uncertain nature in love, an uncertainty which often makes love all the more worth fighting for. Yet, there is a subtlety in the way writer/director Mina Shum presents Jade's nervous breakdown of a life, a subtlety which craftily creates the effect of slowly drawing the viewer into the spiralling life of Jade. With its powerful, yet simplistic (in the Hal Hartley vein) direction and tremendous performances, Double Happiness stands as a remarkable film which deserves more attention. Pity!

Double Happiness is a very realistic look at Asian family values and personal values. Sandra Oh as the cheeky Jade Li was excellent. The actor that played her first date Andrew was great too. I was amused at the outcome of this pairing.I was very impressed by Callum Rennie, who played Jade's caucasian boyfriend Mark. There's a quite funny scene between these two that involves a talk about bad clam chowder and "fascist" bouncers. The chemistry/tension between Jade and Mark was great. The rest of the family was great too. Truly a must see movie about relationships.