Tigertail (2020) User Reviews (42)

Striking a resonating chord with the Asian-American experience

[htmlfreak · 8/10 · 12 April 2020]

In director Alan Yang's Emmy winning speech for Master of None in 2016, he said that despite there being 17 million Asian-Americans in this country, there was still a lack of representation in television and film. Tigertail is undoubtedly a step towards that direction.

Set over four different time periods across both Taiwan and New York, Tigertail is an immigrant story at heart. When Pin-Jui (played by Tzi Ma) is still a teenager, he reluctantly enters into an arranged marriage as a means to provide money for his ailing mother. He leaves behind his girlfriend and emigrates to New York. After a few years, Pin-Jui and his wife have a daughter of their own, of whom Pin-Jui has a fractured relationship.

From one angle, this immigrant story is formulaic. Parents, with nothing in common, struggle in a foreign land for the sake of their children. But from another angle, Yang shows us nuances and subtleties that demand a deeper inspection. The miniature piano that Pin-Jui scavenges for his wife but remains unplayed over the years. Pin-Jui repeatedly opening and closing the metal gate to his small grocery store through the seasons, showing the passage of time. Pin-Jui's daughter crying in the backseat after being scolded after a piano recital gone wrong.

One nuance that reverberates throughout the film is language. The film features three different languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese Hokkien. Each language represents a different generation: Pin-Jui's mother exclusively speaks Taiwanese, Pin-Jui primarily speaks Chinese, and Pin-Jui's daughter speaks English. For the entire film, all of the dialogue between Pin-Jui and his daughter is in English. It's not until her father brings her to where he grew up and finally tells her the story of his upbringing: How he gave up his life for another. It's only here, in the final moments of the film where she speaks Chinese for the first time and asks, "What was her name?"

Covering four different time periods in the span of a mere ninety minutes was an ambitious task, and for that reason, the movie feels particularly rushed. Perhaps more attention could have been placed on capturing the relationship between the father and daughter: This has always been a core piece of what it means to be a child of immigrants. Furthermore, the stitching of scenes across different time periods don't always translate well to Pin-Jui's character development as an adult. It's only until the final fifteen minutes of the film do you see this unfold.

Overall, Yang is able to capture the right emotions in his directorial debut and tells a classic story in his own way. The subtleties, reflecting both an Asian-American heritage and relatable familial scenes establish a fulfilling level of depth to the film. True to his own words, you can't help but wonder what Yang will do next.

A complex and bittersweet look at immigrant life.

[SnobReviews · 7/10 · 24 April 2020]

"Tigertail" is one of the better films I've seen lately. A moving yet quiet film that offers viewers a look inside immigrant life. . In this drama, a Taiwanese factory worker leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in America, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and newfound responsibilities. . I found this film to be more compelling and resonant than 2019's "The Farewell". "Tigertail" had my full attention from the start until the very bittersweet end. You get to see a completely other side of writer/director Alan Yang ("Master Of None") and he leaves filmmaker imprints as he goes along. The performances in this film are great as well; the iconic Tzi Ma ("The Farewell", "Arrival") really gets to show off his acting chops here playing a quiet but struggling man. You feel his pain and conflict throughout. I didn't think I'd enjoy "Tigertail" as much as I did and I think you should definitely stream it on Netflix. . Follow @snobmedia for more reviews!

Bittersweet

[stephenstephenbyrne · 8/10 · 7 August 2020]

That closing shot.

As a story about someone letting it all kinda get away from them (themselves, their desires, their ability to connect emotionally) not due to some significant event but just through their everyday decisions and the passage of time, it's pretty depressing. But also funny and beautiful at times.

It made me real sad despite having no connection to the material or the immigrant experience.

A simple story to put social distancing in its right place, not in a pandemi, but in humanity.

[JohnDeSando · 26 April 2020]

Writer-director Alan Yang has absorbed the full measure of auteur Wong Kar Wai, whose lovingly intimate In the Mood for Love is my litmus test for modern Asian cinema at its best. Although Netflix's Tigertail may be more realistic than Mood, it captures a middle-aged Ping Jui (Tzi Ma) romanticizing his past as he struggles to connect with his estranged daughter, Angela (Christine Ko) in the present.

Do not look to this drama for an eye-popping American love story, for it is Asian in its restraint and its lyrical understatement. After facing deep disappointment as an immigrant to America with his arranged wife, handsome Ping adjusts to the realities of life and the boredom of his marriage.

Salving his despair are the images of his former love, Yuan (Joan Chen), whom he left to go to America on his factory boss's dime and with the boss's daughter as bride. Although American romances often end with a pleasant alignment, Yang does not indulge us on such fantasies.

Tigertail smacks us with the vagaries of immigration, not the thorny process the news underlines today but rather the disappointment an immigrant might experience as he watches his American dream collapse under the weight of a reality check that includes substandard housing and menial jobs.

The latter part of Tigertail is about the glacial change that comes to Ping after his mom dies, his wife leaves him, and he must try to connect with Angela, unaccustomed as he is to saying anything much of anything to her. His Asian paternalism and cold restraint make communication challenging.

The painful reunion is the strength of the film: Most of us have at least one family member we should reach out to, but we may lack the willingness or interpersonal skills. Yet, those skills can come slowly but surely as we face them to overcome them.

Tigertail is a small drama filled with humanity, superior acting, and enviable cinematography. John Ford would be happy to see how Yang honors him with a final shot that recalls the famous frame shot in The Searchers. Tzi is no John Wayne, but they share characters with a remoteness that plagues cultures and families for all times.

As we struggle with the pandemic's demand for social distancing, Tigertail shows the effects of it in everyday real life.

Perhaps a bit short but still a good film

[peter07 · 7/10 · 13 April 2020]

I watched this on Netflix, and the premise was very interesting. A man leaves the love of his love in Taiwan for the chance of immigrating to America with his boss's daughter, and he decides to seek the love he left behind as an old man as well as get along with his estranged daughter.

Though the narrative was interesting, well, I felt that the film could've done more with the characters, esp. Yuan, who is played by veteran actress Joan Chen. I think she should've had more screen time given her acting prowess, and perhaps this could've been a limited series. Maybe I'm insisting on what the movie should've been instead of accepting what it was, but by the time it ended, I was sorta left hanging.

Still, this type of tale should be told more often. As the parents of Asian immigrants myself, it struck a chord with me.

Good drama with a couple of standout elements

[LucaMR1991 · 6/10 · 13 April 2020]

Now available on Netflix, this multi-generational drama follows a Taiwanese factory worker who leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in the US, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and newfound responsibilities.

The two aspects I loved the most about Tigertail were the score (which sounded amazing and perfectly fit the tone) and the non-linear storytelling that kept the story interesting to follow. I, also, liked how they shot part of the movie on film - when the lead character was young - as it gave it more personality. Other than that, I found Tigertail to be a rather by-the-books drama with interesting but, perhaps, underdeveloped commentary on immigration. The movie is quite short and never feels dull or boring, though, so I would recommend it to fans of this kind of dramas.

6/10 or 7/10 (can't decide)

Wrong pick of the cast

[jwu-16273 · 6/10 · 13 April 2020]

A movie about people from Taiwan who came to US after they are in their twenties, however, the cast was picked of actors mostly from mainland China and USA. Watching them speaking mandarin as Taiwanese with strong mainland accent; or speaking perfect native English as an aged Taiwanese is just unreal. The director should simply hire Taiwanese cast to shoot the film.

Actors accent

[kh-66341 · 6/10 · 12 April 2020]

This should be a story about Taiwanese immigrants. However, many actors are not Taiwanese and their accent ruins the experience.

I'm a Taiwanese

[burritosburritos · 10/10 · 20 April 2020]

I have beared witness to my Taiwanese family and friends who also left Taiwan in the late 60's and early 70's. The emotional and financial sacrifice to forge a possibly(but not guaranteed) better future for your family in a land of a different tongue and color is tremendous. It takes a special breed of person to take upon this burden. Certainly not the type of entitled brats who so easily criticize the accents of the actors. To me, the spoken Taiwanese, the rice fields, the Taiwanese house courtyards, the nightmarkets, the obligatory piano playing are all a jumbulaya of nostalgia for me. This story rings true to me. Sorry for the rant. I'm hungry now, Wa be ki ja bung.

An awesome drama with a nice story about love

[mvahidalizadeh · 7/10 · 20 April 2020]

This is a story of a Taiwanese boy who comes to the US with his wife to work and grow. The story has some flashbacks to his past. There are many different locations in the US and Taiwan. The background music of the scenes is in harmony with them. The most challenging part of watching this movie was following the subtitles in most of the scenes since they don't talk in English. In summary, I recommend watching this movie to drama fans (especially those who like romantic dramas).

Inauthentic and distracting accent

[sleepyhowie · 2/10 · 13 April 2020]

If your Asian actors can't be bothered to imitate a Taiwanese accent or you can't hire a dialect coach to train them, at least dub their lines for chrissakes. It was absolutely painful and distracting to watch someone say that they are from central Taiwan in a full-blown Chinese accent.

A beautiful well made film

[hmusol · 8/10 · 11 April 2020]

A touching father daughter relationship at the core of it. A bit of a downer but it redeemed itself with a heartfelt ending

My thoughts

[pipsis03 · 7/10 · 1 June 2020]

This is a beautiful and effortless movie. Every aspect complimented one another. The soundtrack, the simple but effective shots, the scenery. The details seemed well thought out.

The story was simple but not in a bad way by any means. It managed to tell the fundamentals of how the main character became the person he is. However some details were left hanging in the air without explanation. The mixing of past and present worked. I thought this movie succeeded in showing and not telling. I adored all the scenes from Taiwan! They were absolutely beautiful.

I felt the emotions of the characters and wanted the best for them. I especially loved Pin-Jui's mom. She had this ambiance around her that I couldn't help but feel warmth every time she was on screen.

The dialogue was the weak link of this movie. It fell on the monotonous side in my opinion. I especially thought about this during the scenes with Pin-Jui and his daughter. They fell flat for me. Some of the actors were good and others average.

I enjoyed watching this movie. It very beautiful shots, heartfelt and slow atmosphere and emotionality. It wasn't a perfect movie by any means: the dialogue between some characters just honestly wasn't good and some details were left unexplained. Despite it's flaws this movie is worth watching.

Ridiculous film for a Taiwanese

[akindo-33696 · 2/10 · 14 April 2020]

First of all, I'm really appreciated for the filmmaker's effort and his ambition to describe a story of a Taiwanese immigrant, and I am surprised that this film came to Taiwan trying to depict a full picture to audience. However, as a Taiwanese, especially a Taiwanese from mid area of Taiwan (just exactly like the ex-wife that followed her man to the United States), I need to point out some, or let's say, a lot of ridiculous mistakes that a Taiwanese would feel uneasy when seeing this film.

1. In mid and south part of Taiwan, we use Taiwanese as a family language, not Mandarin. So when I saw the main character replying his mother with Mandarin, it feels awkward. Not to mention that his wife! How come a girl growing up in Wunlin speaks Mandarin with a perfect Beijing accent? It is really insulting for a Taiwanese audience.

2. This is not a story for a traditional Taiwanese. It is a story more suitable for a Wuai-Shen man or mainlander (means people followed KMT government to Taiwan after 1945). My family is a traditional Taiwanese family. My father had never went to pub in his 20s, nor had he lived in such a Mainlander style house.

3. The town Tigertail is in Wunlin. If you ask any Taiwanese from Wunlin, they would never tell you that Wunlin is in mid area in Taiwan. But the director's family moved to the United States many years ago. It is an allowable mistake.

Overall, I am thankful that the director is willing to tell a story of Taiwanese. However, as a Taiwanese studying Taiwanese films, I strongly suggest the director pay much more attention not only on Hou Hsiao-Hsien or Edward Yang, but also those brilliant Taiwanese filmmakers like Hsu Pu-Liao, our comic icon in Taiwan.

A gentle but striking meditation on family discord and identity conflict

[DJKwa · 7/10 · 25 April 2020]

"Don't cry... Crying never solves anything"

It's a family mantra passed down from generation to generation, inking the paper on which Tigertail tells its tale.

Growing up poverty-stricken in the rice fields of Huwei, Taiwan, Pin-Jui (Tzi Ma) is told from a young age by his grandmother that crying is a sign of weakness. Having lost his father as an infant and living separated from his mother, his inability to process his grief leaves him emotionally repressed but hardened to the hardships of rural Taiwanese life. Upon moving to America to start his own family, Pin-Jui's moves out of poverty but his nature doesn't change and his relationship with his daughter, Angela (Christine Ko), becomes increasingly strained as she struggles to understand his habitual lack of affection.

Much like Lulu Wang's Independent Spirit Award winning 'The Farewell', Tigertail explores the East-West dissonance that ripples through first-generation Asian Americans. By linking Pin-Jui's closed-off nature to generations of family hardship, the rift between him and Angela is presented as one of socio-economic disparity. Growing up under starkly different circumstances, the advice that got him through the rice fields of Huwei doesn't translate to the boroughs of New York, and by perpetuating it to his daughter, he has alienated himself from what really matters in life; the love of his family.

The result is a gentle but striking meditation on family discord and identity conflict that, at only 90 minutes, feels a bit slight in its impact. Nevertheless, as an old flame of Pin-Jui's tells him to open up to his daughter, the film achieves a sweet reconciliation. By becoming an emotional shoulder for Angela to lean on, Angela, in turn, becomes receptive to learning about the sacrifices her father made to chase the American dream and give her a better life. Their estranged relationship is bridged by a sense of mutual understanding and the message cuts deep; people may never change who they are but communication is essential in finding common ground. Most pertinently, Tigertail exalts the importance of family at a time when it feels more crucial than ever.

Tigertail is a mosaic of memories

[danilocanzanella · 7/10 · 16 May 2020]

Tigertail is a mosaic of memories in which the desire for redemption seeks a balance between arrivals and departures.

On the narrative level, the power that the details acquire in his flashbacks is interesting, transforming now into fixed points, now into the coordinates necessary to guide his subsequent awareness. On this wavelength, the screenplay offers the protagonist the opportunity to make sense of his sacrifices, showing how the pursuit of happiness, the sharing of good but above all the conquest of a social status are not only the preserve of the American dream, but of all those who survived the loss and pain.

Disappointing

[breadandhammers · 7 September 2020]

I was really excited by this film when I saw the trailer. An Asian-American film that blended classic Asian cinema and modern American taste. However, the final product misses its mark very sorely. While the visuals are pretty to look at, the lack of a coherent and cohesive story is crippling. While on paper, this film is supposed to be a deep character study of Pin-Jui, the film doesn't connect the dots and explain why he is the way he is. Finally, the dialogue in the film is painfully on-the-nose. There is a lot of telling, no showing. This kind of personal film is hard to make - Yang tried to tell his father's story. Telling your parent's story is almost intrinsically difficult. By definition, you are removed from that time, place, and life. I wonder if Yang would have succeeded more if he were paired with a native Taiwanese writer his father's age.

Tigertail

[caioeshenriques · 7/10 · 13 April 2020]

Westernization of Asian cinema aside, the Tigertail plot, which is inspired by the personal story of its director Alan Yang, travels through three layers of Pin-Jui's life (Tzi Ma, Hong-Chi Lee and Zhi-Hao Yang) through flashbacks little linear about the personality of a desolate child, a reticent youth and a resigned adult.

The script, which is very much based on the poet Chorão's maxim "every choice, a renunciation, this is life", builds the power of its protagonist through his relationships with the most important women in his history: his mother, his great jovial love , his fake wife and his firstborn.

As time goes by, the irreconcilable versions of Pin-Jui are revealed as the young Taiwanese's interest in living the American Dream becomes more evident. When he decides to face his greatest ambition in a pragmatic way, he gives up his greatest passion, Yuan (Yo-Hsing Fang), and agrees to marry his boss's daughter, Zhenzhen (Kunjue Li), in exchange for the opportunity to moving to the United States.

Between the Taiwanese desolation and the collapse of the not-so-meritocratic American dream, Tigertail is the distressing portrait of a man who was never able to cross his own fortunes and break the barriers of his emotional inconsistency, being exhausted of carrying the weight of his own cross. As he taunts in a grocery store while his pregnant wife reaches the inevitable limit of an abandonment routine, Ping Jui becomes a demanding and empathetic husband, fading the course of his family relationships to failure.

With the older protagonist, divorced and introspective, the film transports us to a predictable attempt of approximation between father and daughter, preparing an atmosphere of nebulosity under the personality of the adult Angela. When this process begins, director of photography, Nigel Bluck, is splendid in connecting the idealism of Ping Jui's memories with his current nature adept at self-sabotage. The greatest asset of the film is precisely the melancholy natural planes and scenes performed by the excellent Tzi Ma, alone, transmitting his character's inner struggle through powerful body language.

If it is necessary to synthesize the qualities of Tigertail in one scene, there is no way to be different. The composition frame by frame in the last moments of the short work, ends in a man eternally linked to his past, but who manages to give a respite to his own imperfections. Faced with what is gone. Beside what you have left.

It made me write my first IMDB review

[gifk-65969 · 10/10 · 8 May 2020]

I wasn't going to watch Tigertail at first. I was attracted by the trailer when I saw it on Netflix, but I checked out the rating here (6.4), yes I'm those people who kind of trust in ratings, so I turned to another movie.

Until I listened to the podcast host by Dave Chang, episode with Alan Yang as guest, I decided to watch it. My favorite movies have always been those with simple storyline, seem like it would happen some day in the real life, in mine or in someone else nearby me. Tigertail definitely hit my point, it's maybe because I am from Taiwan, so I can relate to it easily.

I cried a lot during the movie, for no specific point, just for the vague but real emotions I guess many Taiwanese share. Take getting along issue with parents for example, I don't know how to talk to my parents as well as my parents don't know how to talk to us. Maybe more luckily in the movie, that the daughter was raised up in the US, she knows to express her struggle to the father, but for me or my sis, it's very difficult to express in order to solve the generation gap problem. Anyway, I can feel the sadness from the scenes, or it should be said like, the movie successfully rose up my feelings.

Besides domestic issue, nostalgia was another point for me too. When they go back to the father's hometown, the house had been decaying over time, leaving only the memories there to remain. Thinking about the decaying house may in the end be demolished makes me really really depressed. Because houses like that in the movie on doubt surround our daily life, while cities and concrete jungle now are invading, those houses will go into the history, people who want to go back for being reminded some memories will no long be available.

Been a while

[ks-60500 · 7/10 · 18 April 2020]

The relationship of father and daughter i guess many people can echo it, especially if you are Chinese or Taiwanese. Leaving hometown and details in the movie is a reflection of many immigrants feeling. It's not a love story but the makes me vividly recall the 96 movie "almost a love story". View it as a art piece.

Trying Hard

[mycoffeemug · 4/10 · 2 January 2021]

It was a good plot but failed delivery. The whole thing is just one big artsy film wannabe. It's annoying. Tzi Ma does not fit in this genre. Acting of everyone in the present time America is annoying. The young actors in Taiwan are the only good thing about this film

Tigertail is the perfect cure for cabin fever. This is La Grande Bellezza with better editing.

[rogerebertreincarnated · 10/10 · 10 April 2020]

Finding the perfect movie when you can't go outside is harder than you'd think. Take it from someone who's been locked down in Brooklyn for nearly a month -- most movies will start to blend together into a pleasant, but unremarkable haze.

Tigertail is the exception to that rule.

Its gorgeous cinematography seduces with exotic locales that feel tantalizing close. The dialogue is sharp, biting. Alan Yang (Emmy-award winning writer behind this masterpiece) has transformed the standard Netflix formula of stunning visuals and meh story into a glimpse at the future of movies.

It'll be a long, long time before any New Yorker gets to wildly overpay for a tub of lukewarm buttered popcorn for the privilege of a true cinematic escape in the grand tradition. Until then, crack a cold one and try Tigertail.

A Drama Essay

[pichi-95 · 5/10 · 17 June 2020]

This film manages to create a really unique atmosphere, with leaps in the narrative timeline between two stories. However, when it comes to the development of the story, it only manages to show a bland essay about love.

A true representation of Chinese family

[makaylagan · 10/10 · 11 April 2020]

Tiger Tail is a slow, poignant movie. It's a representation of the immigrants from Taiwan to the US around 70s. What they thought America was, how they longed to come to America, yet only to find it is nothing like their imagination. How they worked so hard in the US, and yet lost the ability to communicate well with their family. I like the depiction of the relationship of Angela and her father. The conversations are great. I like the ending.

If you can't tell a story, don't make the movie

[x_dekin · 2/10 · 28 June 2022]

Was expecting a life story about Taiwanese immigrants to USA in the late 50s but the slow pace and trying hard to imitate Wong Kar Wai story telling style just simply fail on this. Sigh.