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Little Seen Film of the Day – Double Happiness

Double HappienssThis Canadian film is notable because it is Sandra Oh’s first feature film, released in 1994.  In DOUBLE HAPPINESS, directed by Mina Shum, Oh plays Jade the dutiful daughter of a very traditional Chinese family living in Canada.  Jade’s parents want nothing more than for Oh to marry a successful Chinese man and live a happy, prosperous life.  Jade’s desire to be an actress is frowned upon by her parents for its instability.  As Jade’s parents continuously find eligible Chinese bachelors for her to date, she finds herself living a double life, keeping the life that her parents wouldn’t approve of, such as her burgeoning romance with the slightly awkward and completely Caucasian English teacher (played by Callum Keith Rennie, in one of his first features) hidden from them.  Much of what drives Jade’s behavior is the fact that her older brother was disowned by her parents, a situation that causes them significant pain.  Naturally with such a delicate balance being played in secret, things are bound to be discovered, and so it is in DOUBLE HAPPINESS.

This was a great debut for Oh, who has since appeared in a number of Canadian and U.S. films, and achieved significant success on the television show “Gray’s Anatomy.”

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Little Seen Film of the Day – All Over Me

All Over MeAlex Sichel’s coming-of-age film, ALL OVER ME, is one of the plethora of earlyish LGBT films that focuses on the coming out experience, but it’s also one of the better ones.  Allison Folland (so compelling in TO DIE FOR) plays Claude, a teenage girl living in Hell’s Kitchen, struggling with her awakening sexuality.  She is in love with Ellen, a friend with whom she wants to start a punk band.  Problem is, Ellen has a boyfriend, and they may of may not have been involve with the death of a gay musician and neighbor of Claude’s.  The storyline focuses on Claude, in the throes of first love, doing everything she can to make Ellen understand how much she loves her without really saying it explicitly, while slowly realizing that Ellen is not the only person out there, and that there might be more suitable people to share her life with.

The tone is somber, and filled with the appropriate angst that any teen coming-of-age drama, especially one that involves homosexuality, should have.  In addition to Folland, the film stars Tara Subkoff and Cole Hauser, who both went on to successful film careers.  There aren’t a lot of U.S. gay films that I enjoy, and this is definitely one of them.  I was disappointed to see that director Alex Sichel didn’t really have much more of a career in film after this.  She clearly had talent, and I chalk it up o the challenge of making indie films focused on women.

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Little Seen Film of the Day – Or (My Treasure)

Or (My Treasure)For fans of bleak foreign films that make you want to slit your wrists when you’re finished, don’t miss this hard-hitting, powerful film by Israeli director Keren Yedaya. Or is a hard worker. She collects discarded recyclable bottles, goes to school, and works washing dishes in her neighbor’s restaurant. She uses the money she collects from her bottle returns to buy food for her mother, who is just being released from a clinic. This mother-daughter family is struggling to make ends meet on the sporadic incomes of Or’s job. Oh, Or’s mother Ruthie works as well: as a prostitute, and while her work can occasionally bring in some money, Or is doing everything she can to get Ruthie to quit the business. She even goes so far as to find her mother a job cleaning the house of a wealthier (an slightly eccentric) mother of a friend. The problem is, while Ruthie loves her daughter, and realizes her chosen profession tears Or apart, she doesn’t really seem to want to stop. To complicate matters, Or is quite popular with the boys, and is pretty sexually active. Yedaya plainly shows us the difficulties life throws at these two women, and some of the joys as well. But it’s all short lived, as we can tell from the tone of the film. And the film spirals toward an inevitable conclusion despite possibilities that convince us that things might work out all right.

The talented actress Ronit Elkabetz is tragic and flawed as Ruthie. Young Dana Ivgy is heart breaking as Or, struggling mightily against forces beyond her ability to control. Yedaya bathes her film in realism, and many scenes seem so raw, naked and personal that I felt uncomfortable viewing them.

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Little Seen Film of the Day – Beijing Bicycle

Beijing BicycleBEIJING BICYCLE is a startling film that begins as a charming, warm-hearted tale of a country boy struggling to cope with life in the big city of Beijing, and ends as a cynical, pointed look at today’s society, and the hardened values that are needed to survive. Guei is the central character, a young man, recently transplanted from the country, who finds work as a bicycle messenger. Just as he is about to pay-off his new bike, it is stolen. When he finds Jian, a school boy from the city, riding his bicycle things become very complicated. The bicycle is certainly a ubiquitous symbol in China, as they fill the streets and quickly become essential possessions for these two young men. The startling, and serious ending to this film really draws out the thought and discussion.

Director Xiaoshuai Wang has made several films since 2001’s BEIJING BICYCLE, but I have not seen any of them.  I would be curious to see some of his other films.  He does a remarkable job in this film making a compelling films whose central characters are difficult to relate to.  Lead actress Xun Zhou has starred in several Asian films including SUZHOU RIVER and BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS

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Little Seen Film of the Day – Apartment Zero

Apartment ZeroAPARTMENT ZERO is a most unusual film that made a big impression on me when I saw it in the late 80’s.  Written and directed by Martin Donovan (who later went on to write DEATH BECOMES HER), this combo black comedy/thriller stars Colin Firth as Adrian, a repressed and socially awkward Brit living in Argentina who is struggling to make ends meet operating a repertory theatre with a dwindling audience while paying for the care of his mother in a home.  Despite his social anxiety, he is forced to look for a roommate, and after a series of unsuitable possibilities, settles on the ruggedly handsome Jack, played by Hart Bochner, with whom he is instantly attracted to physically.  The two start up an bizarre relationship, with Adrian intrigued by the charismatic Jack, but more unexpectedly, Jack seeming to share a similar affection for Adrian.

Adrian’s neighbors in the apartment building are an eccentric bunch who immediately take a liking to Jack after being repeatedly rebuffed socially by Adrian, several of which both male and female, become physically involved with Jack.  Adrian resents the connections Jack is making with the neighbors, and begins to put demands on his accommodating roommate.  Adrian’s friend Claudia is involved with a political committee that’s investigating a series of murders that bear a striking resemblance to those committed by members of death squads that operated in Argentina in the 70s.  When she discovers a possible tie between Jack and these death squads, a confrontation between the two leads the film into a violent spiral of revelations and twisted actions.

When I saw APARTMENT ZERO I still wan’t out to many people as a gay man, and the homoerotic undertones of the film fascinated me.  The black humor is exceptionally handled, and the performances by the two leads are terrific, especially Firth as the repressed Adrian.  Sadly, the theatrical cut contained more homoerotic content that was edited from the home video version.  I’m not sure if that version is available to screen.