【Double Happiness】:【枫叶电影文学评论】
Friday, April 04, 2008
"Double Happiness" -the other side of the coin （ A
喜喜 字 和‘硬币的另一面’
Watching “Double Happiness” directed by a Canadian, Mina Shum is a real enjoyment for the audience whether familiar or not with the Life, or people as born Chinese or raised in the Chinese Canadian immigrant communities.
This film was an award winner at the
Starting from this unique symbol, and around it, Canadian director,-Mina Shum unfolds the bicultural romance uniquely with symbolic elements in filming.
Very directly the film start with this symbol at an very scene, when viewer see a red Chinese character is placed on a bowl of rice, but only half of it, and it is catonized to be taken away. Note how the ‘Double Happiness’ stands? The film is charming, first of all, for its comedic translating of the symbol. “Double Happiness” is the Chinese Character often seen at weddings., Mina Shum focuses “Double happiness”, And lead viewers attention to ask ‘why’, this is a clearly a hook This is very serious “character’, a big word in Chiense culture which allows no mistake in real life. This Chinese character symbolizes a good matched the marriage doubles the happiness. Here she wanted to attract non Chinese viewers’ attention.
Then viewers can notice one part of the character is up-side down. It really serves as a key symbolic hint for audience with the Culture, asking a big “why?” to hook the viewers. Interesting thing is it is taken away.
As we are watching later, Jade, Li suffers, and tries to escape from her “parents’ arrangements for her love and marriage. Quite a lot of the film is used to picture how she fails to meet her life partners ‘parent’s chosen’.
Later her secret meeting with a white university student Mark too is totally against her family’s wills, a rebellious action against their oriental value. Climax is set in a later scene, as Jade runs into the rain, showing Jade’s inner fury and pain.
“Lazy Susan”, ‘Red-bean-bun’ and “Curtain’ to the window.
The symbolism is very strong and unique in Mina Shum’s movie. It is quite luring for those who interested in Decoding symbols form other cultures.
There are many scenes are related to ‘foods’. The ‘lazy’ Susan’ slowly turns, from the very beginning, when family is at the table, and viewers are getting closer to the Chinese family eating manners, the ways the family communicates, and smell the culture already.
The repentance “red-bean-bun” a peculiar a kind of ‘food’ that the ‘father’ so keen on eating, is another example of symbolism applied to show the ‘Father’ sticking to his way of living. This symbol reflects also the ‘father’-a character in th e film to tell the unchangeable mind-set of first generation immigrants. To give the background of old-fashioned culture and tradition inthe family value, in which parents are surpose to make the decision as in the film, to arrange Jade to meet ‘dates’ and find ‘best choice’ for his daughter’s partner for marriage.
Another strong symbolic scene is at the end: “Finally, Jade Li is frustrated and decides to move out. She is saddened in an empty room putting down unconsciously a family picture they took in the rain. Then she walks towards the window in the last few seconds of the film: she is hanging and covering the window with a colorful curtain facing the screen…”
Then viewers are looking a window with a huge “oil-painting frame” with some uncertain pattern looks quite ‘western’. Is it a good ‘ending’? It adds a questions too. As a picture closes, viewers are hinted about the uncertainty in the life that Jade is going to face, which is mixed and hidden with inside excitement of being free, being herself, or “being not knowing" what’s going to happen after”. Here the spiritual freedom is strongly symbolized and so nicely framed. The viewers are asked to judge, as if a girl in 20s, either the ‘freedom’ or ‘being together with the family’ a conflict in life that most of the teens might encounter.
From the acting side, performed by talented actress Sandra, Oh, (Korean) in the play Jade, Li’s life is double-sided too. She not only plays the role of an obedient good girl at home, but suffers through dates arranged by her parents, On the other side enjoys seeking happiness, love (with a white university boy), career and soul; her own self-recognition of the identity in struggling, and in conflicting between values which is really a double-sided role hard to play.
The movie offers us a closer look at some of these Chinese symbols, which mirror what happens to Jade Li’s ‘double sided’ life that needs talents to perform.
Your joy ‘doubles’ as well in watching. It is really one of the good Canadian styled films produced. The joys comes naturally if you are a bi-cultural person, an immigrant you self, or you re from other ethic group who interested in getting closer to the oriental ones. “doubling” side of the film shows in Jade’s life really pictures the emotion a girls experienced. You’ll feel like sitting in between the multicultural conflicts in every minutes, and imaging you self as one of the ‘roles’ in the film, and back to real life figuring how to perform yours.
It’s a provocative film, in which the two sides of the coin turn smoothly and humorously for multiple audiences in those multicultural cities.
