By: Dan Craig, Miki Sato
Joy Osmanski and Hiroshi Watanabe enjoy an awkward moment in White on Rice.
Now in its 13th year, the Reel
Asian Film Festival has gained
recognition as one of Toronto’s
major film festivals. Autumn
in the T-dot offers an array of
specialty cinema festivals, so
as you narrow down your list of
flicks to catch, why is Reel Asian
worth checking out?
Of the 49 Asian and Southeast
Asian films presented this year,
30 are homegrown Canadian titles.
Whether your preferences
lean towards political issues—A
Schoolgirl’s Diary follows the
life of a North Korean adolescent;
action—Overheard explores
the ethics of surveillance
in urban Hong Kong; or even
the erotic—The Ache is about
a heroine with magical beauty
and powers; with the array of
selection at the fest, you’re sure
to find at least one or two that
will catch your interest.
White on Rice 3.5/5
White on Rice is the follow-up to
27-year old American film director,
David Boyle’s Big Dreams
Little Tokyo (2006). The comedy
follows the trials and tribulations
of main character Jimmy
(Hiroshi Watanabe), as he tries
to adjust to American suburban
life following a divorce from his
wife in Japan. Living under his
sister’s roof, the 40-year old
bachelor, much to his brotherin-
law’s dismay, un-apologetically
squats without an end in
sight. Watanabe, known for his
comedic role in The Last Samurai,
undeniably carries the film
with his endearing, though at
times slightly annoying, demeanor.
With a fair amount
of laughs and a heartwarming
message, the film’s accurate
portrayal of the subtle nuances
in a Japanese-American family
is great for those who want to
see something light enough for
a date, but substantial enough
to remember. Emphasizing the
difficulties of cultural and emotional
transition, White on Rice
exhibits the earnest attempts of
a character trying to find love
and happiness despite of himself.
Overheard 3/5
Everyone has a secret in this
financial crime drama, and perhaps
the investigators who are
decked out with all the latest
surveillance equipment have the
most to hide. Set in Hong Kong,
Overheard was written and directed
by Alan Mak and Felix
Chong. You may know Chong’s
work, although indirectly, as he
also wrote The Departed before
Scorsese made a remake for
English tastes.
The film covers all sorts of
moral territory as the cops who
overhear the secrets of an insider
trading deal decide to cash in
on the black market information.
Their personal lives also
get mixed up with their work as
affairs, lies and secrets pile up.
While I found myself becoming
attached to the characters, I was
somewhat tired of caring by the
end as the post-climax pulled
a CSI-style “I told you so” with
the bad guy (who also, somewhat
predictably, was the only
person to use English in the
whole movie).
Fish Story 4/5
Music can save the world, or at
least save it indirectly according
to Japanese director Yoshihiro
Nakamura. A fictional punk
rock band that predates the Sex
Pistols by one year struggles to
get their music released without
compromise is only one facet of
the story of how the earth was
saved from an incoming comet.
One flaw this movie may have
is that it tries to be too many
things at once as it takes itself
seriously through rockumentary,
martial arts, horror and
comedic sequences. While these
more serious elements are quite
funny, I began to wonder what
it was that I was supposed to be
feeling. It wasn’t funny enough
to be an all-out laugh-fest, but
it didn’t take itself seriously
enough for me to be moved by
its drama.
Yang Gaw 2.5/5
Blantant sound editing problems
and poor decision making
in the second-half of the plot
overcame the few well-crafted
moments of terror in this film.
The story centres around a
rural Phillipino family whose
daughter, Amor, returns home
due to a mysterious illness.
Family loyalty and economic
troubles test the characters
during Amor’s slow transformation
into an aswang
monster. Take one part Blair
Witch, one part Exorcist, a bit
of hunger paradox from Interview
with a Vampire, and you
get Yang Gaw. The setting and
context of the rural Phillipines
makes the whole experience
feel fresh, but it wasn’t fresh
enough to make me ignore all
the potential plot outcomes
that could have been.
This article was originally published on our old website at https://thenewspaper.ca/the-arts/reel-asian-film-festival-gets-real/.
