1982 Directed by Wayne Wang
Two cabbies search San Francisco's Chinatown for a mysterious character who has disappeared with their $4000. Their quest leads them on a humorous, if mundane, journey which illuminates the many problems experienced by Chinese-Americans trying to assimilate into contemporary American society.
챈의 실종
Kept thinking about how in the most diverse country on Earth, movies like this should be commonplace rather than an anomaly. This is a lot more than a sensitive picture of Chinese-American culture though, evolving into something a lot more mysterious, philosophical, and atmospheric.
38th Review for The Collab Weekly Movie Watch
Using the disappearance of a crook by the name of Chan as a narrative device, our protagonist embarks on an odyssey to catch our missing thief, but in return, we as the viewer end up educating ourselves and learning more about Chinese culture both within and outside of the United States.
The black and white cinematography adds to the film's appeal, while the quasi documentary style of direction is evocative of Cheryl Dunye, Kevin Smith, and even Kiarostami. It's very different from what I've seen from the filmmaker (The Last Holiday), and the very easygoing, almost improvised comedy is brilliantly accomplished, and you end up giggling at the scenarios that all of…
76
"This mystery is appropriately Chinese: what's not there seems to have just as much meaning as what is there."
There are moments in this film that feel like Hitchcock. There are moments that feel like Carol Reed. There are moments that feel like Jacques Tourneur. These are not things you usually say about lo-fi independent films in the vein of early Jim Jarmusch (though, since this came out two years before Stranger Than Paradise, perhaps I should say Jarmusch's films are in the vein of Wayne Wang), but the genius of this film is recalling films so tightly constructed as Vertigo, The Third Man, or Out of the Past in service of a film that's so loose and at times feels improvised.
The ghost that hangs over this film most dourly, though, is Charlie Chan. From the title to…
I started loving this unconditionally only a few minutes in. What an outstanding artifact from early 1980’s America. Shot down in the pith and pivot of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Purely of its place and of its time (though accusations that it was made for the white gaze - with all of its “explanations and footnotes” on the culture - are not unfounded. My gaze is white and my gaze appreciated the education).
It’s a powerful work of essentialism busting. Chan is missing, complex humanist representation of the Chinese American experience is missing, missing from the national dialogue, from the filmic library, from the late 70’s/early 80’s conversation, and so Cab driver Jo and his nephew Steve set off to find…
What's not there seems to have just as much meaning as what is there.
Feels at least a decade ahead of its time, where the lo-fi indie sensibility to it would feel right at home with the likes of Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater. Chan Is Missing is considered to be the first theatrically distributed film directed by an Asian-American. Three things come to mind with that: Number one, it's insane that it seemingly took until 1982 for that to happen. Number two, it's very cool that this is easy to access through The Criterion Channel and Kanopy with really nice looking picture quality. Number three, if this did have to be the first, then it's also very cool that…
Cinematic Time Capsule
1982 Marathon - Film #31
Searching for Godot
”If this were a TV mystery an important clue would pop up at this time and clarify everything”
When Jo and Steve’s cabbie associate goes missing it sends them on an amateur goose chase through a labyrinth of the various aspects of identity and culture in San Francisco's Chinese American community.
This super low budget indie is a great example of how to do a lot with a little. The narrative MacGuffin provides the perfect framework to suck viewers in and expose them to a world of cultural issues and opinions that may be very different from their own.
Not to mention that Wood Moy makes for an utterly…
Viewed with the Amazing Edith's *Collab Film Group*.
The problem with me is that I believe what I see and hear. If I did that with Chan Hung I’ll know nothing because everything is so contradictory. Here’s a picture of Chan Hung and I still can’t see him…
Is it a coincidence a film jam packed about race has a whopper of a final line that gives us nothing about physical perception? I'd say no. Jo spends the entirety of the film searching and interviewing to only collect a dozen reports of a singular, unique character--not someone boasted by his skin. To this and to the film's clear minimal budget, is what I assign my rating. Chan Is Missing is a prime example of something filmed incredibly well on scraps. LET'S GO INDIE CINEMA. The major downside is it's a real slog. Sure, Chan is missing, but the real crime is that so was the entertainment.
P.S. Activism sucks, kids.
1st Wayne Wang
One part B Noir, one part proto-Jarmusch/Linklater talkfest, one part meditation on cross-cultural identity, cross town. The first film by an Asian-American filmmaker to get any form of decent distribution, Chan is Missing seems to be a cheerfully shaggy dog tale, on the surface at least. Yet it's hard to ignore the more sombre elements underneath, especially the conversations that emerge around what it means to be Chinese-American. There's almost something Rivette-like in the narrative, for the way that Jo in particular seems to be wrapped up in a much larger concern that has people calling his phone late at night to warn him off the case. In Jo's case, this is to do with a flag-waving…
"This mystery is appropriately Chinese: what's not there seems to have just as much meaning as what is there. " -Jo,
Not Now soup sounds delicious...
This is a fun neo-noir mystery and a thought-provoking reflection on the lives of Asian Americans in the early eighties. It's a really well-structured film with great pacing and interesting dialogue.
Yep.
(Don't) Forget it, it's Chinatown.
I have no excuse for not having seen this before now, but it's amazing.
It's no masterpiece and it can't fully overcome its inordinately low budget by incorporating it into the charm. The low production value just feels like a hindrance. Yet Chan is Missing is still a really interesting work that shows the life of Chinese Americans and uses a missing person as a way to dissect cultural differences within the community, both with local issues and with viewpoints of China (and its relationship with Taiwan, foremost).
