I am rating this film an 8 out of 10 because of it's bravery and subject matter. It's not likely that there will be too many films that take this subject head on. I'm sure the story and phenomena of western men courting and marrying Filipino (or Asian or other))women has received significant study but what about men. As same sex marriage becomes more and more widely available more and more men will want to seek partners from another country. The film does an effective job of setting the scene. The director was present at the screening I saw at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Festival in San Francisco tonight. She stated that she wanted to make a documentary film with a narrative through-line. This is not a novel approach to documentary film making and she and her collaborators did an effective job until the end of the story when the relationship between Jazz (the young Filipino) and Theo (the noticeably older German boyfriend) seemed to come to and end with Theo abruptly going back home and not asking Jazz's parents for his hand in marriage. The viewer was left wondering why? What happened. That was left unanswered as were some other questions that could and should have been explored more deeply. What was the role of religion in Jazz's life and his self acceptance as a gay man? What was the role of cross cultural conflict in his relationship with Theo? What difference does age play in their conflicts and their coming together? Perhaps a film 20 or 20 minutes longer could have done a better job. Despite what I perceive to be a flaw in storytelling, what story is told is told well and brings into the light a part of the human experience that, as the director said in the post showing Q & A, needs "not be sensationalized - but normalized."
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