SFIAAFF: “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”

PHOTO CREDIT: Philip Koller/GOOD PRAYERS LLC

For the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival’s (that is a mouthful) opening night, I made my way to the Castro Theatre where I was greeted with a long line of people anticipating opening night screening of San Francisco native, Wayne Wang’s film, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

I have never been to the Castro Theatre before (yes, I know it’s a cardinal sin after living here for nearly three years) so seeing the ornate decolletage of gold leafing and antiqued glamor was a treat.

After a classic Hollywood overture from the resident organ player, the 26th annual event was officially initiated with words from Center for Asian American Media executive director Stephen Gong, festival director Chi-hui Yang and Mr. Wang himself.

The scent of popcorn in the theater made me drool as they started the screening of the festival’s first movie based on Oakland resident, Yiyun Li’s book of short stories.

The film introduces us to Yilan (Feihong Yu), a recent divorcee who tries to remain normal despite her obvious heartbreak. When her father, Mr. Shi (Henry O) visits from Beijing to help her cope with her problems, she fails to open up which causes a quiet rebellion on her part. As she becomes more and more distant, Mr. Shi finds other ways to occupy his time: reading the newspaper, jotting down new English phrases, chatting with Mormon missionaries, befriending an Iranian widower (Vida Ghahremani) in the park and playing with nesting dolls while listening to Russian folk dance music.

Much like The Joy Luck Club, Wang bridges the Asian and Asian American gap with storytelling that explores the complexities of Asian American families in a way that no one else can.

For one, more than half the movie has subtitles. On the other hand, Yilan leads a very American life of an independent woman. Mr. Shi is trying his best to learn the American culture. Conversely, he puts some traditional Asian decor on Yilan’s front door that doesn’t sit too well with her.

All Asian American identity references aside, the story is a universal one that revolves around the classic parent vs. child paradigm. The more Mr. Shi tries to help Yilan with her problems, the more she pushes him away.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? It does to me.

Throughout the movie, there is this impatient battle. After a while, you feel sorry for Mr. Shi because of Yilan’s bratiness. You even get more peeved (partial spoiler alert) when she plans to send him away on a tour of America. This is obviously done so that he is out of her business. At one point, I wanted to have a Dr. Phil moment and yell, “Just tell him how you feel!” at the screen.

The assimilating tug-o-war of cultural ideas worked, but I still had an emotional void that failed to be filled. They may have met a resolution in the end, but the road that took them there didn’t make my senses tingle. I didn’t mind wading ankle deep in the characters’ lives, but being immersed in the story would’ve intrigued me more.

Henry O delivers an “awwwww!” worthy performance of the curious father, trying to reconnect with his daughter, while Fu’s performance as the daughter who refuses her father’s help is gratingly satisfying.

Once again, Wang delivers a great cross generational tale and even though it didn’t give me the river of tears I wanted, I will still retain my lifetime membership to the Joy Luck Club.