Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Saving Face
Directed by Alice Wu
Sony Pictures Classics 05/05 DVD/VHS Feature Film
R - some sexuality, language

Wilhelmina (Michelle Krusiec) is a hard-working young surgeon at a Manhattan hospital whose single parent mother, Ma (Joan Chen), still hasn't come to terms with the fact that she is lesbian. At a regular get-together with members of the Chinese community, Ma desperately tries to find her daughter a man to marry. However, Wilhelmina is much more interested in Vivian (Lynn Chen), a ballet dancer. Soon this vivacious young woman, who is taking a break from her career and trying modern dance, is directing their relationship. Wilhelmina still finds it hard to express her true feelings in public, and her work gives her an excuse to miss meetings with Vivian.

But the largest hurtle to their relationship comes when the forty-eight-year-old Ma is discovered to be pregnant. Her strict professor father (Li Zhyu) kicks her out of his home and feels shamed by her behavior. Wilhelmina is forced to take her mother in and finds herself stuck with a bored woman who does little except watch soap operas on television. Ma reluctantly returns to the dating circuit, and her father exerts even more pressure by ordering her to marry Cho (Nathanel Geng). He is a rather dull middle-aged man who has loved her for years but not had the gumption to act on his feelings.

In her debut as a director, Alice Wu has fashioned a light-hearted romantic comedy that sparkles thanks to the lively performances by Michelle Krusiec, Lynn Chen, and Joan Chen. The message of Saving Face is that it is usually wise to disregard familial and societal pressures when acting on the heart-felt impulses of love.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat