Currently Chan Is Missing By Marc Hayashi, Wood Moy, Roy Chan, Leong Pui Chee, Laureen Chew see related

Chan is Missing

A 1982 film directed by Wayne Wang that portrayed a somewhat historically accurate portrait of urban Chinese America. It takes place in San Francisco, where two Chinese American taxi drivers search for their missing partner-- Chan, who got mixed around with some legal situations. I found the story very realistic-- there's no Kung-Fu and it has nothing to do with the usurping power of the Triads. The film glances at the dynamic of Chinatown politics, between the mainlander Chinese Americans and Taiwanese-Chinese Americans. Or really, the Nationalist and the Communist-- which was a hot issue in Chinatown during the time. This film is pretty short, and the cinematography is brilliant. This film should be seen by the younger generations of Asian Americans, and is a must-see for students who are studying Asian-Americana Studies.

I don't know much about S.F.'s Chinatown, or whether it is almost identical to New York City's Chinatown, but one subtle note I've taken was the usage of Mandarin and Cantonese dialect in historically appropriate moments. Pretty much the film is a potrait of Chinatown-- from Chinese restaurants, to bars, to hotels, to social-worker offices, to political competitions. Beneath all of the stereotypes, there's a sociological understanding.

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This dot musts'for amusement unfortunately
as the flowers of artichokes
render perfectly chaotic triangle patterns

like irrational reciprocal sums
that consume our aching hearts
exchanging love

for unattainable knowledge--
Fibonacci summations
of limitless virtues

shattering the sky
of our minds with senseless love
pretending to make
progress in our lives
while the flower unfolds spring
that fades in winter

It

poemgranate