Am I the first?!

Saving Face is on my favourite film list!

God yes! I love this movie and I am actually watching it right now! 

"So put me on a plane, and fly me to anywhere...with you"-Augustana

Love you girls!

You just made a tiny writing mistake, it says: Retro Reviewing: Bound, in the title of the vblog, instead of Saving Face. ;)

Still of to watch, bye bye. :D

Peace.

O_O!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE SAVING FACE!!!

Lynn Chen is SO HOTT!!!!!!!!

Good Asian Drivers were awesome guests! And I'm incredibly glad Caroline's back, I hope she's here to stay with all her notes.

I felt Saving Face was great in the sense that it's seldom we get to see any positive lesbian movies dealing with Asians, and definitely seldom do we get movies where they deal with pregnant unmarried mothers! It also had a pretty realistic portrayal of the Chinese community (though I'm not too sure what it's like in America). I loved how Joan Chen's character spoke Mandarin, Michelle Krusiec's character spoke English and they both perfectly understood each other. And the dinner scene with Joan Chen and Wil's neighbour was hilarious!

I think the movie was carried along a lot by the acting from Joan Chen and Michelle Krusiec. Well, Joan Chen's probably the most well known of Chinese actresses of her generation in Hollywood anyway, along with Gong Li. The dialogue was a little bulky and I didn't really totally buy Wil and Vivien's relationship because it didn't seem quite developed enough, though I did buy into Wil's awkward and uncomfortable character. However, it IS the only film out there which talks about the cross of specifically Chinese culture, Chinese immigrants in America and lesbianism as well as a romance involving a middleaged woman and a young man, and it IS Alice Wu's first fim, and it DOES star the amazing Joan Chen. Come on, Joan Chen is a legend! So it gets 4.75 from me.

And can I just say again, hurray that Caroline's back? :)

There are subtitles...and I don't understand Mandarin Chinese...and I am not Chinese...yet the story at the heart of this movie is universal...so it transcends what some might see as all the obstacles limiting the audience for this movie.

Both Wil and Ma are at the same point on the path of their lives...finally wanting so badly to be true to themselves because of love.

Ma has been imposing her will upon Wil for the sake of the family...as the grandfather has been imposing his will upon his own daughter.  Yet, Wil has been imposing her own perceptions upon her mother and it is only once they start living together that they both see the other woman is much more than meets the eye.

One thing, Ma already knows Wil is gay from a previous relationship Wil had and so Ma is simply ignoring this part of who Wil is...which is a familiar way some parents deal with their children being gay.

This film is such a mix of humor, drama, romance, and even suspense regarding Ma's pregnancy.

Lastly, Joan Chen who plays Ma is very very HOT.  :)

Trivia: Lynn Chen who plays Vivian...prior to making this film played Regina on All My Children during the time Maggie and Bianca parted ways for a bit and Maggie was dating Henry.

For anyone who has not seen this movie, I would highly recommend it.

I actually saw this movie I'd say maybe 7 months ago at my high school's GSA.

I absolutely ADORE this film. Especially because of the strong cast, as well as the fact that is was about an Asian-American family in New York. From my understanding from other family members, this is very accurate in terms of how their family is. 

And the review was so much fun to watch - I'm glad I wasn't the only one who disliked the vending machine meet-up. Seriously, how realistic is that?! Kit got it right: If someone were to leave a note in a New York hospital with coins on the vending machine, the coins would have been gone way before the intended person got there.

And how did they find such an attractive cast?! I was like in love with Wil, Ma, and Vivian all at the same time...xD

www.myspace.com/lunakiss7

 2004. Wow, it's been that long ago. Saving Face is one my top Queer movies of all time. I love it! I love the two very different and dynamic storylines between mother and daughter. I like how the two  generations,the mother and daughter, deal with their  situations completely different. I disagree about the vending machine being unrealistic meeting place to meet someone.   You can meet anyone at anyplace at anytime. Plus, it was nice that Wu got away from writing traditional meeting places where people congregate such as bars,clubs,parties,etc. So the vending machine was a fresh idea to keep the story from falling too cliche. I give this movie a 5. It was well directed and written for a first time director.

Welcome back Carol :)

One other reason I liked this movie apart from the story/direction/casting is the screenplay(for which Alice Wu won the CAPE award). I think the following lines in the script were really funny and sexy.

Wil: So"? Does she know we have sex?
Vivian: No, Wil. She thinks we conjugate Latin verbs.

Rina, according to Vivian, they do know each other before. Read the following conversation between them:

Wil:So how come we never met before now?
Vivian:We did meet. Nineteen years ago. I was 8, you were 9. Outside the temple.
Wil: I don't remember.
Vivian: The Wong boys were taunting me about my parents' divorce. You beat the crap out of them. You were wearing a Kristy McNichol t-shirt, tan cords and a pageboy. You spilled your mom's groceries. We scooped them into a bag.
Wil:That's right, and then...
Vivian:: And then I kissed you on the nose. And you ran.

PS: The last few minutes of this vlog was so precious, so hilarious.

I love this vlog, it's probably one of my favorites, and this episode was great. I really enoyed this movie, and the reenactments were especially hilarious. I hope you guys keep up the good work.

p.s. I'm sorry Denae for spelling your name wrong on the transcription. I can't  believe I did that even when you have the names spelled out in episode before last. I guess that's just one of those things where you only see it when it's too late.

Reviewers, you've got a new fan :)

PS: It would have been great if you could also get Dara Nai as a guest to review this. It's now too late to suggest this though.

I live in Toronto where the Chinese community is rather large. Our family isn't "into" the scene (may I just say thank goodness) but the movie was pretty damn accurate in its portrayal. Of course certain things they exaggerated a tad but that's what makes it funny - how TRUE and REAL it is. 

And also just wanted to say how amazing and awesome this movie is. It's strikes very close to home because of the Chinese culture and if only I could have a love story so great. :) 

Is the best lesbian movie I have ever seen! I guess it's also cos I'm Chinese, and totally relate to the characters and the story line.

In regards to the vending machine thing, it's quite common for Doctors who work in the hospitals to survive on junk food from the vending machines. Meanwhile, they're telling their patients they should lay off that crap! lol

see what i did there?? haha i LOVE saving face, it's got just the right amount of realism and that sort of 'better than chocolate'-esque cuteness. like most chinese people here have said, i really related to the characters, and the story just made me really happy. even with its weaker moments, this film gets a 5 from me!

Saving face totally Rocks !!.. 

wat else can an asian lesbian ask more than a movie that represents US !!..this is definitely a movie worth watching and 5 ++ for the ratings...

FYI... joan chen is 47  !!!!

LOVE IT!!!

gosh it speaks to me more than any other Chinese films about queer women ever did. (from the very few numbers of them),

I love the way this film deal with the situations of being in between. In between of older/younger generations, and in between of different cultures.  And I love how real it shows what Chinese cultures sometimes can be when dealing with issues.

I thought that Wil and Viv first meet (apart from childhood) at the dance; well not meet exactly, but they catch each other's eyes and Wil's guy-friend says Viv is his cousin.

I assumed that Viv either tracks down Wil at work or that their meeting at the machine is  possible in a happen-chance way since Viv's dad is Wil's boss. And since they have that conversation at the machine, the follow-up of the note stuck to the glass with the change made sense to me - granted someone would've prolly nicked the cash though.

Anyhoo, I really like this movie and I enjoyed your review.

I can relate to the cultural/familial/generational dynamics being played out. I like all of the characters, but especially Wil, because of her complexity; the independent adult with a professional career, the dutiful and respectful daughter, the shy lover etc - the conflict and tension between all of those aspects manifests really well on-screen. 

And like someone pointed out earlier, it is nice to hear a mixed conversation of chinese and english, both between characters and when a character lapses into one or the other.

Looking forward to your review of Desert Hearts.

I absolutely adored this movie and of course, I never miss my Retro Reviewing! But I think this movie taught me more about Chinese American culture that it taught my gorgeous Asian friend Rachel about lesbian culture. It's very much a parent-child driven movie and I think that's wonderful because to tell you the truth, coming out stories are starting to grate on me.

If you lovely ladies haven't seen it, Fabuolous: The Story of Queer Cinema is the queer movie-goers video bible (but a cool bible where it was Adam and Steve and where Eve gets it on with Lilith)

To my brother, a chef, butcher is a noun. In my world, butcher is an adjective. <

I loved this movie toooo! This and imagine me and you ranks the highest of all the lesbian movies i have ever watched!

 The only thing i didnt like about the movie was that it was tooo short! Oh and i felt that wil and viv's relationship progressed to fast for me to understand!

Saving face is the first lesbian movie that i watched!

I love wil and vivian, they are so asian hahaha... The values, the beliefs and the respect to our culture are so important to us... It's just sad too because it is the same reason why we can't be happy all the time....

Viva Saving Face!