Yellow (1998)

Director:

Chris Chan Lee

Writer:

Chris Chan Lee (writer)

Release Date:

29 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Eight teens in Los Angeles have one night they will never forget.

Plot:

Eight friends in Los Angeles spend their last evening together as they face graduation from high school and the onset of their adult lives...

Plot Keywords:

Asian American | Teen | Scavenger Hunt | Korean American | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Zaugh	...	Vincent
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Boobar	...	Mini-Mart Clerk
Burt Bulos	...	Alex
Ray Chang	...	Mike
Mary Chen	...	Mina
John Cho	...	Joey
Charles Chun	...	Aaron
Michael Chung	...	Sin Lee (as Michael Daeho Chung)
Diana Dumas	...	Liquor Store Owner's Daughter
Robert Fontaine Jr.	...	Customer #1
Susan Fukuda	...	Grace's Mom
Amy Hill	...	Snake Ajima
Kirk Hostetter	...	Customer #2
Steven Anthony Jones	...	Uncle Dave
Sebastian King	...	Man with Bad Stomach
Emily Kuroda	...	Mrs Lee
Derek Kwong	...	Young Sin
Ann Jea Lee	...	Sin's Sister
Grace Y. Lee	...	Mina's Mother
Janet Lee	...	Yo Yo & Janet's Mom
Jasper Lee	...	Chaz
Kyung Nam Lee	...	Sin's Auntie
Lela Lee	...	Janet
Sean C. Lee	...	Mina's Father
Ung Chu Lee	...	Alex's Uncle
Junek Lu	...	Aunt Omi
Ken Narasaki	...	Grace's Dad
Le Le Niu	...	Grace's Sister
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Woon Lee
Sharon Omi	...	Mrs Park
Steve Park	...	Alex's Uncle
Spencer Pennington	...	Young Sin's Friend (as Spencer B. Pennington)
Champagne Powell	...	Liquor Store Owner
Michael Sandoval	...	Young Sin's Friend
Clifford Son	...	Funky Donuts Man
Eric Steinberg	...	Peter
Angie Suh	...	Grace
Mia Suh	...	Teri
Samuel B. Suh	...	Alex's Uncle
Jason Tobin	...	Yo Yo

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Korean

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Slanted Screen (2006)

Soundtrack:

Secrets

we can hope for better

I'm always on the look out for American films that actually acknowledge that there are more than two races in America. Unfortunately, while YELLOW does in fact feature Korean Americans, it fails in too many ways. The title itself is an in-your-face attempt to say "Hey!! THIS is Asian-Americanism!!!" The characters seem to have been created to fulfill the film maker's desire to represent Korean Americans. That's a trap that a lot of films about ethnic minorities fall into, but sometimes with skilled writing that purpose can be fulfilled while still creating characters that seem real. Not so in this case, and in fact, they characters and story don't give you any genuine feel for the issues facing Korean Americans anyway. No point in taking the actors to task for their performances... the finest thespians couldn't make these character's motivations tangible. The story suffers from the "dummy-plot" syndrome.... there would be no story if the characters weren't stupid. The story drifts aimlessly from one contrived event to another. It eventually reaches such levels of ridiculousness that you're wondering if the film maker just added scenes in because it would be fun to shoot. That all being said... Chris Chan Lee might have a good film in him. At times he displays a good visual sense. Maybe if he was working with a writer who could craft a convincing story with genuine emotion. But unfortunately, YELLOW is a film worth watching only if you're writing a term paper on Asian American film.