Double Happiness

Mina Shum's 1994 Canadian film follows Jade Li, living with her family in Vancouver. She wants to act, but auditions keep steering her towards the same kind of part; at home she plays the daughter her family expects. The subject is that second role becoming impossible to sustain. When Jade begins a relationship with a white university student the two lives collide; the narrative does not caricature the family and explains the father's attitude through his own past. Sandra Oh leads, in one of the first roles that brought her wide attention. The narrative uses passages spoken straight to camera; the tone sits between comedy and drama and the close offers no easy reconciliation. Who it's for: those who like Canadian independent cinema and narratives of immigrant families. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a close in which the family conflict is resolved.