Ms. Purple

This movie has been on my to watch list for a few months. i really didn't think it would be great but i was way wrong. a very powerful story with an incredible actress that makes you cherish the things you have. A very common story in asian families to take care of your parents yourself opposed to putting them in a home or hospice. it shows the burden on family and the guilt that comes with it.

7.2

Greetings again from the darkness. Kasie (an excellent Tiffany Chu) lives with her father (James Kang), who has an unidentified terminal illness, and has been in an extended coma, showing no real chance for recovery. Kasie is the primary caregiver, and out of familial duty, refuses to put him in hospice for professional care. She also works as a Hostess/Escort at a popular Karaoke bar and has a rich boyfriend, although there seems to be no love between the two - it's more of a business relationship.

Out of necessity, Kasie re-connects with her older brother Carey (Teddy Lee) who bolted from home many years ago after disputes with the father. He seems to have done little with his life, and frequently gets booted from an internet café for lack of cash. Carrying guilt for deserting his sister and father years ago, especially since the mother/wife left home when the kids were very young, he agrees to help Kasie with caregiving, and even takes dad for "road trips". It's quite a comical sight to see son pushing dad's bed through town set to The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). Much of the siblings' adult issues can be traced to mom abandoning them for a better life with a rich man. Some emotional scars never heal, so this bit of levity is welcomed.

Director and writer Justin Chon (co-written with Chris Dinh) was behind the critically acclaimed GOOK in 2017 (a Korean DO THE RIGHT THING). Here he uses Kasie's flashbacks to childhood with her dad and brother as a framing device, demonstrating how the father dealt with his wife leaving, and laying out the responsibilities and burdens that family can bring. There are recurring shots of lone palm trees whose significance to Kasie is only explained late in the film ... but does provide more insight into the bond she has with her father. The contrast between memories of her father telling her she's a beautiful girl and the obnoxious, entitled behavior of her rich Karaoke customers is heart-breaking. A nice young valet (the car parking type) played by Octavio Pizano offers Kasie a taste of normalcy and it slowly brings her back towards center.

Ms. Chu carries the film. Her performance relays the vast array of emotions - the duty she fulfills that wears her down. She is quite something to behold. The film has a terrific score of violin music from Roger Suen, and lets us know that finding one's self while caring for another can be a breakthrough that may sometimes be loud, and may sometimes be quiet. I was fortunate to stumble onto this movie at the 2019 Dallas International Film Festival when another screening got cancelled. Such a pleasant surprise

Subtlety is not a strong suit in Justin Chon's movie, with striking shots, amplified music and jarring flashbacks taking precedence over story and characterizatons. Key information is denied to the viewer (e.g., purple is the color of mourning in Korean culture) and the use of 3 or 4 false endings (extra footage is shown even after the end credits roll) is a drag.

Chon covers a number of weighty themes, unfortunately often trivializing them. His heroine suffered (along with her brother) from abandonment, as their mother left them, and is clinging to her dying father as a result, refusing to give him over to hospice care as nearly everyone suggests she do. The extreme difficulties of a caregiver are illustrated, but make for black humor comic relief (the brother wheeling comatose dad in his bed through traffic repeatedly as silly music plays).

His depiction of the plight of a sex worker, as our suffering heroine is mired in prostitution working in karaoke bars that are merely fronts for sex, and her even more disturbing treatment by an egotistical sugar daddy is commendable in how her humiliation is shown to be even more debilitating to the human spirit than the sex and ultimate violence that comes with the territory.

Chon also uses two subcultures, the Korean community and Chicano community, to portray immigrants as strangers in a strange land, seemingly his principal theme in the picture. More back story would be necessary to give this set of characters three dimensions, and the subpar acting in the brother's role is a major drawback to becoming involved or invested in their fates.

This is a slow moving drama, but it is beautiful both aesthetically and plot wise. I find it engaging.

This film really has some standout and profound moments, exploring familial dynamics, death, and autonomy. Crystal Lee's acting is really stellar and the film is very beautiful. There is even some very nice humor thrown in to lighten the intense themes of the movie. However, there was some questionable writing and dialogue that felt like it threw off the tone of the movie, at times. Overall a very solid picture that explores some very important topics.