after first seeing the interview with the director and cast etc., i was hopeful that this would be a good film. NOT..... It is just so lame. Characters are not well developed, plot developments are soooo predictable. not one of the three sisters or their parents- become real people for the viewer. I think the screenwriter just tried to cram too many story lines in and could not decide where to focus. The father's story had promise.His scenes provide some entertaining and fun quirkiness; but he was left half formed, as was everyone else. I really cannot imagine WHAT the director et al. thought they were bringing new to the world . Maybe this was their run-through and their next films will be worth watching.For a much more interesting, entertaining film about Chinese American women/family, see the very worthwhile Saving Face.
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film_ophile29 August 2007
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wondernat1 February 2007From all of the hype I've ingested through queer news outlets, I thought this movie would be worth watching. Unfortunately, the chemistry between Mia Scarlett & Jules was very awkward -- their first kiss was laughable. There was one cute moment between them (GOUDA!), but it wasn't enough to actually delineate this movie as "queer." It was quite a shock to learn this movie won two awards at the 2005 Outfest. There must've not been many good entries that year.
The awkward queer story line aside, I was very amused by the hilarious comedic timing of Kathy Shao-Lin Lee and Tzi Ma's inner neuroses. It is a rare actor who can entertain without saying much at all.
Watch this movie to be entertained, not for its queer content. Although the lesbian story was very positive and non-dramatic (in L-Word terms), it is far from qualifying as a queer movie. -
sir_humpslot23 February 2007Other than the problematic portrayals of Asian-Americans in terms of the lack of authenticity, this movie is also problematic in terms of pacing and story content. There's plenty of discussions elsewhere on the internet on what this indie film means to us Asian-Americans in terms of the lack of male representation and false depictions of Asian-American family life. With all that said, this movie is also problematic in terms of pacing and story content.
What this movie desperately needs is a complete revamp of the script even before production began. The story seems very contrived and artificial. For an indie movie like this, the story is the only thing that makes or breaks its acceptance by the targeted demographic. What this movie lacks is focus and clarity. It meanders all over the place without a focus on any character that tells a concrete story. It's loosely constructed to tell a family story, but instead ends up arbitrary characters that are rather cliché and story plotting that seems forced rather than natural character developments. The tacked on "happy ending" didn't seem natural or deserved by the story plot and character motivations.
It's like that bad joke about Chinese food leaving you hungry again after an hour; while this movie seems to have interesting subplots and characters, but at the end you realize what a phoney story it is. It's not simply there are mostly Asian-American females, but as an Asian-American if I can't identify with any of the characters then I think this story isn't really serving any purpose except like chop-suey it fools the mainstream audience to believe what Asian-Americans are about. -
"Red Doors" starts out looking like a re-tread of early Ang Lee movies, but quickly adds a charmingly unique cross-generational element as three sisters and their father are at crossroads in their lives from retirement to career and romantic choices to literally explosive teen rebellion.
Each of the Chinese-American daughters has a relationship with a Caucasian, but inter-ethnic issues are less of a concern than human issues of self-realization, as the characters end up drawing strength from their cultural context as they deal with the pressures of being "the model minority."
While the writing is stronger than the directing as there's some drag, particularly during the middle daughter's seemingly endless and petty travails, writer/director Georgia Lee makes the best use of actual home movies - her family's -- since "Capturing the Friedmans," for bringing memories to life. We are actually seeing her sister's, lively co-star Kathy Shao-Lin Lee's, childhood as the family members take turns digitizing home movies.
As is usual in first timer's ethnic coming-of-age movies there's a bit of a stereotyped emphasis on art vs. commerce career choices and high school memories that are doubtless a filmmaker's autobiographical resonances. But each character is very much an individual, including having their own musical themes, from hip hop to mopey singer-songwriter tunes. The teen ager is an original spark plug of comic relief even as the family members' relationships aren't all resolved sit com style.
I particularly liked how the acculturated oldest sister pushes the depressed dad (a marvelous Tzi Ma) to see a shrink but he wisely finds a more traditional healing process that's the opposite of talk therapy and a touching contrast to the similar emotional crisis in "About Schmidt."
The title was explained in an off-hand remark at the end, a reference to the tradition of painting one's front doors red to bring good luck, and not all the audience caught the meaning, though we all appreciated the red doors pins that were distributed after the screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was also nice of the director to give up some of her allotment of tickets to people on the long line hoping to get in, which included many Chinese-American women from around the New York metropolitan area who had heard about the film through word of mouth.
The potential audience may be confused by the time this film is generally released with "Saving Face" that is being distributed earlier, as they share a few plot points, including parental conflict and a lesbian daughter, but on its own it is a lovely, sweet film. -
YNOT_at_the_Movies26 March 2006"Red Doors" is not a bad melodrama with some dark humor here and there. The Wongs is a traditional yet dysfunctional Chinese family with three daughters living in the suburbs of New York City. The eldest Samantha is a successful business woman who is about to get married to a Yale graduate. The middle one Julie is a shy medical student who fells in love with an actress. The youngest Katie is a rebellious high school student who expresses her affection to her high school mate in the most bizarre way. Not enough drama? Here comes the quiet dad, Ed, who overcomes his own crisis due to the newly retirement life by either watching his daughters' childhood videos or tried to kill himself.
They have done everything to bless the best fortune for the family, including the red door at the front gate. But things don't seem always go the way they have hoped for.
This film does a great job on examining the conflicts and confusions in these characters' minds with superb performance from the cast. But I simple can't get over with the fact that there is no Asian man in this film except the dad. All three daughters date Caucasians, even Julie dates a white chick! If the story were set in Kansas or Alabama, it would have been understandable because Asian men don't want to live there. But New York? I can't help but to feel unsettling with this "arrangement." Other than that, it's not a bad film. -
tigerfish5018 August 2010Ed is the patriarch of an Asian-American family, and after retiring from his job, he mopes about the house, periodically making ineffective attempts at suicide, which are depicted in a comedic manner. In between these episodes he watches home movies of his three daughters' childhoods, while his offspring embark on their lives. The oldest girl is planning her wedding to an Ivy League blue-blood, while the middle one is a medical student who becomes attracted to a soap actress researching the role of a doctor. The youngest is a high school student who responds to a schoolmate's romantic overtures by leaving dead rats in his mailbox.
After Ed heads off to a Buddhist monastery to confront his issues, the daughters deal with the shallow arcs of their respective narratives . A few quirky ingredients are added to spice up their story-lines, but none amount to anything more than a few moments diversion from the director's wooden attempts to evoke a Zen sensibility with pseudo-minimalist techniques. By the time Ed returns, two of the daughters have hooked up with their prospects, and the third has disposed of her unsuitable suitor. The vibrant Asian-American culture deserves better than this self-consciously coy contribution. -
onlyemailleft13 August 2005It was so nice to see a movie that was not the standard crap that so often comes out of Hollywood. This film was very funny and very moving.
Coming from a family with 3 daughters and a father who often was left in a daze by the constant chaos around him, I really felt a connection with this movie.
The cast was awesome and really delivered great performances. The story was credible, entertaining, and filled with humor at just the right times. This is without a doubt a film I would go to see again in a heart beat.
I would definitely recommend it! -
penciler15 November 2010After viewing this, I was surprised to see on the DVD box that it had won some glowing blurbs and prizes at various festivals.
The script was OK, the situations potentially involving. But the unfocused, often amateurish, performances and occasional jarring attempts at comedy repeatedly broke the reality and brought to mind that old maxim, "There are no bad actors, only bad directors." The performances were mainly incoherent, unnatural. Director Georgia Lee seemed unable to help her actors communicate any steady undercurrent of withheld feelings, in a story that was largely about such. Key characters, mostly men, passed across the screen as unknowable entities.
I watched Red Doors convinced that most of the leads were capable of much better work, even though I'd only seen one, Tzi Ma, in anything else. Glowingly beautiful Mia Riverton, playing an actress, was hammy and false, killing any chemistry in her romantic scenes.
Secondary characters were worse. As the oldest Wong sister, Sam, Jacqueline Kim had the largest part and gave the most coherent, recognizably human performance. But the acting of the men playing her love interests was awful. Her old crush, a whispery-voiced high-school music teacher--an intended dreamboat--was wretchedly portrayed by a kid with suspiciously plucked eyebrows who looked about half her age and didn't sing well.
Extra points off for being set in and around New York City, ostensibly, yet establishing no NYC ambiance or locales.
So directing movies, it turns out, is like conducting a symphony, or performing rap, or brain surgery--it only takes one bad practitioner to prove that skill makes a difference. -
vkubach12 July 2006I saw Georgia Lee's "Red Doors" at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival in New York, and was really moved by this film.
I connected with the experience of being a part of a family that is in transition -- what seems to have once been a tight-knit family unit is now diverging into different directions. The parents are getting older...the children are entering into adulthood...and basically the dynamics have changed, and they are having to relearn how to be a family in their new lives.
There's emotion, there's humor, there's rawness and sincerity, there's good writing, acting, and music, and a window into a Chinese-American family -- what's not to love?!
And I can't wait to see what Georgia Lee does next. -
MsLiz21 July 2006I watched this film tonight with a packed house at Pt. Washington library. One of the actresses and the assistant director were there to answer questions after the movie. People kept coming into the theater room after the movie had been running for a half-hour or more, and the room was filled with not just the usual in-town audience but many friends of the film who had traveled 20 or 30 miles to be able to see the film screened.
I think every father has problems adjusting to how their daughter(s) lives change as they grow up. My own father's favorite picture of me was taken in my freshman year of high school when I still wore glasses(!) and hadn't yet changed into the young woman that disagreed with many of his plans for her.
I was very pleased by the character development of the sisters and the father, they found ways to make changes in their lives even when the changes were difficult.
I liked the film very much, and most of the audience did too! Congratulations to Georgia Lee and the cast and crew for this great family film! -
jewlia82712 July 2006This movie is great and has a lot of heart. It focuses on one Asian American family, and of course, each family member has a distinct personality and set of issues. Red Doors is able to touch on these different characters and themes in a substantial and meaningful way. You walk away from the film feeling moved and that it did justice to all the characters and issues they dealt with. Additionally, this movie represents several groups that often do not receive much attention or coverage in Hollywood. For instance, minority groups, specifically Asian Americans are not a prevalent group in film today. Lesbians also do not have many positive representations of them on screen. This movie, however, is able to address both of these groups as well as other issues in a deep and moving way. Everyone should see this movie!
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scottym-82 September 2006I really appreciated the slow, deliberate, and organic way this movie unfolds. The film is nearly plot less in the best way possible; it is a movie about people simply existing within their world, and writer/director Georgia Lee wisely eschews the temptation to up the ante or artificially increase the dramatic conflict beyond what is absolutely necessary. There are no villains here, just people trying to exist and navigate their way through their relationships with one another.
Everyone in this film -- from the three sisters (Jacqueline Kim, Elaine Kao, and Kathy Shao-Lin Lee) to the depressed father (Tzi Ma) to even the high school prankster (Sebastian Stan) and the overbearing mother (Freda Foh Shen) -- are fully fleshed out characters who transcend their respective "types" (aloof father, overbearing mother, responsible older sister, etc.) Only Sam Wong's distracted fiancé (Jayce Bartok) comes close to caricature, but his quiet interactions with Sam are always believable and never forced. The script is delicately and subtly written, and Lee manages to find a gentle humor in even the more potentially dark situations.
It's nice to see such a quiet and subtly realized movie today, when even smaller character dramas have a tendency to resort to melodrama or artificially "quirky" characters to make their impact. This film definitely feels like Ang Lee at his "Ice Storm" and "Brokeback Mountain" best, but it has a lightness of touch that Lee himself hasn't had since "The Wedding Banquet" over a decade ago.
This is both a film and a filmmaker that deserve to be discovered. -
prism696811 September 2006An excellent examination of life from several unique points of view that have not been given this type of treatment before. One can tell if a film is relevant when everyone who sees it takes aways something different from what was apparent to them on the screen whether it be humorous or dramatic. The appreciation of this film will only be tempered by your own experiences. Watch this film more than once and watch the layers unfold. Nothing on the screen is superfluous. One of the most satisfying films I've seen this year.
One of my favorite scenes was when the white guy/boyfriend (which would be me in the same situation)is invited to dinner and the younger sister puts something in his bowl that startles him. The moment is very brief. I thought it was hysterical, from my point of view. However, my wife who is Chinese didn't even notice the moment until we discussed the movie later in the evening. She could only notice the decor, which she though was funnier. Both scenes had the same level of truth. This is why the film is a remarkable achievement. -
LaoWombat121 September 2006A gentle, thoughtful film. Interestingly quirky characters, although, like the Joy Luck Club or the Soong Sisters or Wing Chun (grin) the male characters are fairly much peripheral to the story either because the actors don't have much to do or couldn't do very much with what they had. But there are plenty of male centered films out there. This is a change of pace.
And pace is the right word, this film unfolds gradually, gracefully, and, despite the quirkiness of its characters (a teenager who conducts romance with explosives, e.g.)in a very natural, easy going style.
It does not have a Hollywood ending, sad and wistful instead, but satisfying nonetheless. -
lovemichaella26 February 2007Then there's youngest daughter Katie (Kathy Shao-Lin Lee ), a high school anarchist engaged in an escalating war of pranks and romance with Simon, the boy next door (Sebastian Stan ). This has got to stop, warns big sister Sam after Katie bombs Simon's locker, to which she breezily replies "He loves me". Which really means they both love each other, but that is there own way of showing it. Then after they finally talk to each other they start to have a real romance relation ship.Then there's youngest daughter Katie (Kathy Shao-Lin Lee ), a high school anarchist engaged in an escalating war of pranks and romance with Simon, the boy next door (Sebastian Stan ). This has got to stop, warns big sister Sam after Katie bombs Simon's locker, to which she breezily replies "He loves me". Which really means they both love each other, but that is there own way of showing it. Then after they finally talk to each other they start to have a real romance relation ship.
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davidkaori13 December 2009You could say a film proves itself by whether you give it a second thought. Another proof is how the film plays on second viewing. "Red Doors" plays very well on first viewing and lodges itself in your memory. On second viewing, it inspires awe.
This film does not give up its secrets in bursts of action or plot-twists. Its strengths are symphonic, and it builds to a conclusion that will remain in your thoughts for a long time afterward. I especially appreciate the way it leaves its audience; "Red Doors" honors its viewers without ever pandering to them.
Everything about the film seems natural and easygoing until you see things that leave you wondering: How did they know? Ordinary things--the angle of a girl's hair, a home-video montage--grab you by the throat. The music craftily draws the viewer into the situations without ever drawing attention to itself. The performances, without obvious star-turns, have a cumulative impact that's just overwhelming.
To see "Red Doors" is to form an attachment to it. To see it again is to immerse yourself and love it. -
Budding auteur Georgia Lee, Harvard educated of Chinese ancestry, wrote and directed 'Red Doors.' Only one red door (actually a double entrance door) is actually featured, at the home of the featured family. It seems that red has meanings of joy and happiness.
Here we have what at first seems like a typical Chinese-American family. Dad is 60 and has just retired. Mom stays at home. Oldest daughter is a successful business person, middle daughter is a medical school student doing well, and youngest daughter is in high school, bent on doing her own thing. The oldest daughter is living with a Caucasian boyfriend and is planning her wedding which is scheduled soon.
While the movie is pleasant and told in a pleasant manner, the main themes are broadly hinted at early so it is no surprise when they develop that way. That isn't all bad, but I was hoping for more subtlety. Not all the acting is convincing, and some of the transitions are abrupt. Still, an overall enjoyable movie.
SPOILERS. Dad seems depressed, by his account has tried suicide at least 30 times. "What happened?", asks the shrink. "I was always interrupted." So he sees a Buddist monastery in a leaflet and leaves home to hang out with the monks, with no word to his family. Oldest daughter is planning the wedding but feels that it may not be right. Almost at the last minute tells her fiancée' that she is not ready, gives his ring back. Middle daughter finds herself attracted to a pretty actress who is doing research at the hospital for a movie role. They become a couple. Dad finally comes home, youngest daughter gets a boyfriend, the red doors bring happiness. -
I really enjoyed this movie. The characters were fun and the end left you in a good place. I just wish that you could have seen more of the mother. There that is the worst I have to say about this film. Everything else is just wonderful. The characters (except mom) are well rounded, the pilot believable and well paced, and the filming style a joy to watch. When you laugh out loud when you're by yourself you know you have a winner. Not to mention...Mia Riverton is very easy on the eyes.
I was upset when I couldn't see this film in theaters. I was overjoyed when the producers decided to make it available for renting online. This is going to be a big step for independent films. So go do your part to support this film. I promise you won't to sorry. -
ecogirlveghead17 July 2011The story of a Chinese-American family experiencing transition. The father retires, the three daughters make changes in their lives, and the entire family begins to discover their true selves and what truly matters - family and love.
Some of the descriptions call this family bizarrely dysfunctional - but really there is nothing outlandish or extremely unusual going on. Just people finding their way.
The dinner scenes made me wish I was there - so much yummy food prepared lovingly by a caring mother. People from large families that eat together in a traditional way might take it for granted. But those of us whose families never sat and ate together, long for that kind of togetherness (and home-cooked food).