Customer Reviews

Dim Sum - A Little Bit of Heart

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first saw this in 1985, it was the first time I saw on the big screen a genuine portrayal of the Asian American experience. I fell in love with this film. At last! My experience and my culture in commercial media. It rang so true to me, and I was and am thankful that Wayne Wang created such a gem. There are many beautiful shots in this film, and detailed depictions of Chinese American life: ie, the shoes at the front door, which is typical of Chinese American households; the bird cage with the red paper character luck placed upside down, meaning luck will descend upon you (unfortunately such details went right over the head of the reviewer below). The Cantonese is a bonus, it's my native language, and there it is in film, and lots of it.
I saw Chan is Missing later, and that, of course, is another landmark film, portraying the diversity in the Chinese American and Asian American community.

It is hard to decide if "Dim Sum:A Little Bit of Heart" is a good movie or not. It is a very low-budget, slice-of-life film that shows a Chinese-American family living in San Francisco during the 1980s. There is no false drama imposed on the family, and their life is no more exciting than mine. The dialog is realistic, with awkward pauses and such. The mother speaks mostly sub-titled Chinese, although the rest of the characters speak mostly English. There are some minor plot points. The mother, who thinks that she will die when she is 62 because of a fortune tellers prophecy, would like to see her daughter get married. Often, they just have dinner and chat. Sometimes they watch TV.

And that is the hard part. "Dim Sum:A Little Bit of Heart" can be down-right boring. Nothing really happens. It is just a few days in the life of a family, and not particularly eventful days at that. The characters all seem like nice people. Victor Wong, who I always like, is charming as ever. It is nice to see him in a lead role. The film is very dated. Each item of clothing screams 1980. It seems like a student film, and perhaps it was.

I think that if I had been a Chinese-American living in San Francisco in the 1980s, then there would be more in this film for me. All the cast is talented, and many appear in the most excellent "Joy Luck Club" by the same director. The ending is very heart warming, and worth sitting through the whole film for.

All in all, I recommend "Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart." with some reservations. Know what you are getting yourself in for.

DIM SUM is one of those films that you really have to be in the right space to appreciate. Thankfully, I was in that space and I enjoyed it very much! Director Wayne Wang cast a real life mother and daughter (Kim Chew and Laureen Chew) as his two leads--62 year old Mrs. Tam and her daughter, Geraldine. Mrs. Tam has reached the point in her life where she wants to make a pilgrimage to China to pay her final respects to her ancestors, while her daughter remains unmarried and takes care of her, as they live together as a family unit. We get a sense of the cultural struggles of women in this country (particularly women of bicultural heritage, like Geraldine, who is American-born, with a mother who remains close to her Chinese values). It is also a quietly humorous and gentle journey through their relationship's ups and downs. Though, I noticed that some people criticized it for being "uneventful," I beg to differ. I think this film is charming in its direct and non-flamboyant style and subject matter and that was something I greatly enjoyed. Very well done.

This movie gives the viewer an intimate slice of the Chinese-American experience in the 80s. If you are looking for a chop-socky movie or a "beat you over the head with 2 by 4s to spell out what the images and meanings are" movie, this is simply not for you. Instead, go see a Beavis and Butthead episode.

Even in the fast past hustle of the western world, the movie shares how Asians are often able to maintain a serene life flow while facing important aspects regarding the end (mother) and continuation (daughter) of life issues. By dispensing with pre-conceived expectations and seeking the meanings behind what the director is conveying, the viewer can gain a entry into this quiet, quaint, and accurate world of this family.

Viewed from an undiscerning mind with old western prejudices, this movie has no value. If you want to gain entry into the world of these Chinese characters and gain invaluable understandings, see and question every cultural aspect that the director shares with his viewers. In the end, you'll learn and understand a little bit how the majority of the world's population deal with life's issues.

If you're about to watch this movie via Amazon's Video on Demand, be forewarned that the Chinese speech in this movie (about a third of the total dialogue) is lacking subtitles. I imagine that the DVD version has an option to turn on the subtitles, but the Video on Demand version lacks such customization. Nevertheless, we watched this movie last night and still found it mildly enjoyable even without understanding the Chinese (Cantonese) dialogue.

For the person that thought this movie was a bomb... I'm really sorry that you don't get what the director is trying to show you in this movie. In your case maybe you should stick with the mainstream films like "Joy Luck Club" where you get a hollywood perspective of what Chinese people are like. For me I first saw this film for an Asian American Studies class in college. I still believe this film is as timeless as they come. Wayne Wang really captured what daily life was like for Chinese Americans and their immigrant parents. What was portrayed was a very comfortable middle class life that they aspired to. Like the Richmond neighborhood that was pictured (before the housing boom)in the movie. It also shows the frugal and mundane lives of the characters. I feel like I know each and every one of them either as a relative or as a friend. Especially the mom which is pretty typical of all Chinese moms and grannies of a certain age. I really miss people like that. What some people don't see is that the director managed to capture a generation of Chinese Americans in the mom that we call "The Old Timers". Not too many of them are still alive, it is nice to know that there is a film that does represent what they looked and sounded like.

This film is absolutely dazzling. I'd heard of it for nearly 22 years, but only just got to see it. It is virtually impossible to tell this film is now 24 years young.

Firstly, I cannot even begin to count the films "Dim Sum" has directly influenced. In the first place, it is so beautifully made, so ahead of its time, that if you saw it 'cold', you'd never know it was 1986...unless you noted the older cars on the street, or lack of cell phones. It's a quiet, beautifully paced film with minimalist yet profound dialogue.

This not only gave birth to mainstream Chinese-American stuff such as Ang Lee's offerings ("Push Hands" comes to mind)...it influenced just about all the quiet, low-key indie films. It is possible this movie actually invented the genre of quiet, naturallypaced realism. The emphasis on family togetherness, food and even the dining room is something I've seen from "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" to "The Wedding Banquet" to "Down in the Delta" and "Dirty Laundry". What vision, what reach from 1986!!

Victor Wong, who was so busy at this time with some major films ("Big Trouble in Little China", "Joy Luck Club") absolutely shines. I'd seen his interviews in the documentary "Chan Is Missing", and the character he plays in "Dim Sum" is so very like him in real life. The way he talks about Chinese culture is fascinating...and he did the same thing in "Big Trouble in Little China", in spite of having to contend with a hammy performance by Kurt Russel.

One scene that blew me away was the brief shot of Victor walking through the streets of Chinatown. So real, so Victor, and so much fun just to see it again after all this time. Victor Wong, walking around Chinatown. Precious and priceless. The lady who plays the widowed mother--whose name always escapes me--is also charming, and her performance drew tears from my jade-like eyes because she was so like my own relatives. This cannot be missed.

Here Victor Wong is as comfortable as the old shoes we see at the foyer of the house (we always did that too, and my wife and I do it to this day). The old widow is delightful, an actress I still can't decide whether I can remember from old movies or not. The storyline is so basic, yet I think the missing element in other reviews is the deep, unending love between the old widow and her daughter. There, too, is the deep love with Wong's character, who plays the 'uncle' in this film. Truly, I can even see how this movie influenced Jackie Chan's films like "Rumble in the Bronx".

If you only ever get one of these kinds of 'Chinese family films', get this. It is meditative, soothing, beautiful and at times surprisingly touching. The acting and dialogue is unvarnished and charming as a Chinese spring morning. This is what film is all about, and I'm sorry about two things: 1) This film is virtually unheard of in America. 2) It was so far ahead of its time the style didn't really take until nearly 10 years later, when so many crappy indie films came out in the 1990s.

Get it and cherish it. There is no "Follywood" in this jewel of a film.

do we need to watch this deadbeat movie? is there director here? what a lousy script. the daughter talked to her mom in english, her mom only answered in cantonese dialect? if the mom understood english, why she never responded in english? so the husband also talked to this wife in english, but she also only answered in cantonese? this movie is in a slow-motion speed. drives you nuts. typically formatted cliches from the very beginning. bored me to death. there are lot of still-life like scenes, such as bird cage, chinese paintings, flower on the table, shoes on the doorstep, again and again, what's the big deal? is there any art in showing some shoes, even plastic shoes to the viewers? any philosophic depth or meaning here? nada. but, if you think you think life is not short and you could afford wasting couple of hours, go ahead, rent it, buy it, watch it, i could not care less.