IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
A documentarian funds an N.Y.C. doorman's East Asian mail-order bride in exchange for the right to film the experience.A documentarian funds an N.Y.C. doorman's East Asian mail-order bride in exchange for the right to film the experience.A documentarian funds an N.Y.C. doorman's East Asian mail-order bride in exchange for the right to film the experience.
- Directors
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 win total
Sam Lisenco
- Skater
- (as Samuel Lisenco)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
i hated andrew and adrian. and at least you know what kind of a jerk adrian is right up front. andrew was by far the worse human being. i guess since i've known a few filipino mail order brides who came over looking for a better life and married white American losers whom no American women could put up with, i recognized too much behavior in adrian and then andrew. what a jerk. there was nothing that Lucia did that made me think she deserved either one of those men, or any of the other men she had experience with. (heck, yes, i even know the horny old goats too who want to take advantage.)
the things people will put up with in pursuit of possible betterment of their situations.
what possessed this guy to make a film like this? exposing even a fictional jerk side of himself???? bleah.
the things people will put up with in pursuit of possible betterment of their situations.
what possessed this guy to make a film like this? exposing even a fictional jerk side of himself???? bleah.
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.
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.
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.
Refer your friends to the interview(s) in which Gurland refers to this film as a "documentary" in production, then watch their jaws hit the floor as you all witness perhaps the most memorable use of PostIt Notes and a Cadillac El Dorado ever committed to film. Despite the clearly stated genre of "narrative feature" in the SXSW program, I somehow got suckered into missing the fact that this is a mockumentary. The contrast between the doorman's anachronistically furnished and dimly lit Queens hovel and the filmmaker's bright, Crate and Barrel-esque (Manhattan?) flat creates a palpable sense of class warfare that really sells the "reality" of this film to the duped viewer. The scene in the doctor's office was the only one that I almost didn't believe, but it was done so well that I still bought it. I loved every hilarious and painful minute of this film. Within its genre, I give it a 10/10.
I can't believe people this this movie was a real documentary.
I am an ex-pat living in Hong Kong, so I was really curious when I saw this DVD in the shop. Within 10 minutes of watching it, I was confused. This chick is supposed to be from Burma. Let me tell you now, Burmese is not Chinese. She opens speaking Mandarin.....which I thought was quite strange.....then later she spoke the Cantonese dialect, which is only used in Hong Hong and the Canton province's in China (notably Guanzhou). This didn't seem right....after looking it up IMDb, I realized that she is actually Hong Kong Chinese. Not only that, she is a famous actress in Hong Kong, more recently playing a lead role in Memoirs of a Geisha.
They could of at least portrayed her as Chinese, and not Burmese. And the fact that her dialect changed from Mandarin to Cantonese, made it obvious that this was fake. The producers really should have done their homework. But then again, I guess most people in the Western world wouldn't know this.
Just a little insight that I thought you all would like to know.
I am an ex-pat living in Hong Kong, so I was really curious when I saw this DVD in the shop. Within 10 minutes of watching it, I was confused. This chick is supposed to be from Burma. Let me tell you now, Burmese is not Chinese. She opens speaking Mandarin.....which I thought was quite strange.....then later she spoke the Cantonese dialect, which is only used in Hong Hong and the Canton province's in China (notably Guanzhou). This didn't seem right....after looking it up IMDb, I realized that she is actually Hong Kong Chinese. Not only that, she is a famous actress in Hong Kong, more recently playing a lead role in Memoirs of a Geisha.
They could of at least portrayed her as Chinese, and not Burmese. And the fact that her dialect changed from Mandarin to Cantonese, made it obvious that this was fake. The producers really should have done their homework. But then again, I guess most people in the Western world wouldn't know this.
Just a little insight that I thought you all would like to know.
Did you know
- TriviaEugenia Yuan's character name "Lichi" is actually her Chinese name in real-life.
- GoofsIn the segment following his return from the alma mater trip, Andrew states that they are using a rental camera since Lichi took his. However, he was using the camera during the trip, so it wasn't there for her to take.
- SoundtracksBailar Merengue
Performed by Mangana
Written by Edith Mesch
Courtesy of LoveCat Music
Published by Big Tiger Music (BMI)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mail Order Bride
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $62,387
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $14,643
- Mar 13, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $65,369
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content