20 out of 24 people found the following review helpful:

Must See! Great for dates or with friends and wine.

Kearan from London, 1st February, 2006

Alice Wu, a Chinese-American lesbian, directs the story of Wil, a Chinese-American lesbian surgeon who meets Vivien, a Chinese-American lesbian ballerina. Oh and the surgeon's pregnant Chinese mother moves in (who only speaks in Mandarin). Wu's film sublimely explores the relationships between the settled Chinese-American community in Flushing Meadows, Queen, NYC, a Chinatown oasis. Wil (a lesbian surgeon) hides her sexuality from her mother, to 'save face', when suddenly her mother (who is widowed) mysteriously falls pregnant and is forced to move out of Flushing and in with her, for fear of shaming the idyllic Chinatown. Mother and daughter begin to explore their relationship, with 'Ma' soon discovering the delights of dating in Manhattan, alongside hardcore pornography. Though this may seem like the 'nichiest' of niche comedies, the fantastic comedy and inventive satire tampers the strong themes of repression and sexuality, so you don't feel as if you're being preached to. I don't want to give much away, but it's a shame this film didn't get a UK cinema release, as the ensemble cast work hard to deliver this balanced comedy, which is frequently hilarious. Racism, sexuality, and the idea of portraying an image to impress others are are all themes tackled here; don't let this slip you by. Plus you can't really go wrong with chinese lesbians.

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15 out of 15 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent, offbeat multicultural celebration

Rehan from , 22nd March, 2006

A very refreshing example of offbeat multicultural polysexuality. Which sounds totally ghastly, but really the film is worth a look. It does contain some improbabilities, like a secondary character who's got a place in the Paris Opera Ballet, and possibly the most outstandingly beautiful 48-year-old (pregnant) mother in the history of cinema; but that doesn't really detract from the general quality of this smart and unusual work.

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10 out of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Charming and different

Attaboy from Nottingham, 28th February, 2006

It's refreshing to see a movie about people in New York that actually reflect reality: they don't live in fantastically huge apartments, they don't spit one-liners like Lenny from Law & Order, and they take the subway to places like Flushing to visit their families.

Saving Face is a charming movie which looks Chinese immigrant parents in New York City and their American children. The film combines English and Mandarin dialogue to show how how growing up with two languages (often spoken simultaneously!) is part of this reality, and the young characters in this story embody that by speaking their parents' language out of respect, yet struggling to find words in Mandarin to match their 21st-century American ideals. Director/writer Alice Wu deftly explores the struggle that children have in balancing the traditional beliefs of their parents with their Western surroundings.

Many of the characters are quite humorous, but there's a remarkable effort at giving each one some depth and sympathy. We are given the chance to understand why, for instance, a father would suffer humiliation from his daughter's actions -- even when they don't seem shameful to us.

The only place where this film felt lacking for me was in the romance between the leads. Their relationship doesn't develop enough that we understand the attraction, and in the end, it seems forced in order to advance the story. Despite this flaw though, the movie is still highly enjoyable.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Fresh romantic comedy with a twist

A Customer from dorset, 19th January, 2006

Funny, sweet, touching and very watchable romantic comedy. It's well produced, scripted and acted. I especially love the mix of languages. I would say it's one of the best gay rom-coms I have seen.

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Interesting

jjjosie from , 3rd October, 2009

Very interesting movie about 2 oriental girls in love and the issues in this side of the american culture with female homosexuality, families and non widely accepted love in society. Very good

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lesbian best

athena101 from , 13th August, 2009

i absolutely love love love this film. i had no idea this film would become one of my favorites, so much so im putting it in my dvd collection. all i can say is you gotta watch it!!!

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This was fantastic!

kjjan from , 8th April, 2009

A very humourous look at another culture - but with universal themes of guilt, awakening and just plain figuring it all out after so long! We loved this film and would recommend it to anyone - gay or straight!

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One of my favourites

A Customer from London, England, 2nd October, 2008

Okay, so there are subtitles but strangely it doesn't effect you as much cause indeed they are only shown now and then with the movie jumping between English and then the the subtitles but this is due to the storyline people! I think it is hilarious if you don't take it too serious, the two girls are absolutely gorgeous and no, don't expect sex sex and more sex, that is not what every freaken lesbian movie should be about! Any age could and should watch this cause we've all been there in some way or the other.

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