A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.
Director:
Alice WuWriter:
Alice Wu
From metacritic.com
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Title: Saving Face (2004)
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3 wins & 3 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Michelle Krusiec | ... | Wilhelmina 'Wil' Pang | |
| Joan Chen | ... | Hwei-Lan Gao - Ma | |
| Lynn Chen | ... | Vivian Shing | |
 |
Jin Wang | ... | Wai Gung - Grandpa |
|
|
Guang Lan Koh | ... | Wai Po - Grandma |
| Jessica Hecht | ... | Randi - Hospital Co-Worker | |
| Ato Essandoh | ... | Jay - Neighbor | |
| David Shih | ... | Norman | |
| Brian Yang | ... | Little Yu | |
|
|
Nathanel Geng | ... | Stimson Cho |
|
|
Mao Zhao | ... | Old Yu |
|
|
Louyong Wong | ... | Dr. Shing |
|
|
Clare Sum | ... | Mrs. Wong |
|
|
Qian Luo | ... | Mrs. Shing |
| Richard Chang | ... | Stephen | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (292) »
Storyline
In Manhattan, the brilliant Chinese-American lesbian surgeon Wil is surprised by the arrival of her forty-eight year old widow mother to her apartment. Ma was banished from Flushing, Queens, when her father discovered that she was pregnant. The presence of Ma affects the personal life of Wil, who is in love with the daughter of her boss at the hospital, the dancer Vivian Shing. Once her grandfather has promised that her mother would only return to Flushing remarried or proving that it was an immaculate conception, Wil tries to find a Chinese bachelor to marry Ma. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Plot Keywords:
lesbian love | mother daughter relationship | triple f rated | shanghai china | shoe |Taglines:
A romantic comedy about right, wrong and everything in between. See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
24 June 2005 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Gynaikeies ypotheseis! See more »Filming Locations:
New York City, New York, USAEdit
Box Office
Opening Weekend USA:
$99,079, 27 May 2005, Limited ReleaseGross USA:
$1,186,323, 25 September 2005Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
|Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
Wil: You're not just a nice Chinese girl.
Vivian Shing: I'll fake it.
See more »
Written by Bill Gordon
Published by First Digital Music (BMI) and Two Music Library (BMI)
Courtesy of FirstCom Music, a division of Zomba Music Enterprises
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
In Wil's supper scene with her "soya" dark neighbor, her khaki t-shirt reads (backwards) "forces canadiennes", French for "Canadian Armed Forces" See more »Goofs
Wil consistently wears her hair in a tightly pulled back ponytail, but shortly after her mother moves in she goes to visit her grandfather wearing an army T shirt. While she's adjusting the TV antenna, her hair is uncharacteristically puffed up with no explanation. All scenes before and after show her hair in the tight ponytail. Quite a bit later, there is a scene where Wil's mom sends her to the beauty shop to find out gossip. It's there that Wil is wearing the same army T shirt and getting her hair rolled up in big curls - the end result of which would be puffed hair! See more »Quotes
Vivian Shing: Just tell her I'm a friend. A nice Chinese girl.Wil: You're not just a nice Chinese girl.
Vivian Shing: I'll fake it.
See more »
Soundtracks
BALTIMORE SLOW DANCEWritten by Bill Gordon
Published by First Digital Music (BMI) and Two Music Library (BMI)
Courtesy of FirstCom Music, a division of Zomba Music Enterprises
See more »
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Explore popular and recently added TV series available to stream now with Prime Video.
I recently saw a list and short synopses of the screenplays accepted for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. In short the overall subject matter seemed to be death, doom and depression, i.e. serious subjects for serious films. I am sure that many good and possibly some great scripts and films will come out of the program.
Comedy is hard. Really hard. Okay, I'm willing to concede that teenage gross out bathroom humor movies probably aren't too difficult, and don't get me wrong I enjoy a good gastro-intestinal joke as much as the next person, but a movie that makes you laugh (a lot), touches your heart and just plain makes you feel good... well I think that is something quite rare -- especially these days.
Saving Face is one of the funniest, warmest, most heartfelt movies I have seen in a long, long time. Its a smart, insightful movie for adults. And like any really really good romantic comedy it is about much more than what is on the surface. I really don't care that it is Alice Wu's first film (although that makes her accomplishment all the more extraordinary) -- all I care about is that it isn't her last.