Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity

While I'm not going to be as harsh on the film as Frank L., this is a movie that has some great material to work with but was compromised by the director not following through.

Characters started speaking English at times which seemed inappropriate (likely because the director thought that viewers would lose interest in reading subtitles through 80% of the film), story threads such as the conflict between the father and son seemed half-baked and not well-developed, etc. etc.

And yes, Sandra Oh's inability to speak Cantonese (she flounces through 3 syllables at the beginning of the film, and reverts to English for the rest) puts her at odds with the rest of the characters in her group.

In film productions, shots that are not up to standards are marked as CBB, for Could Be Better. This is a film that with more planning and a more coherent vision of how the story arc should work could have been great. Instead, it is marred by things which I'm sure someone winced at including in the final cut.

While criticized by the one viewer over the film's perceived cultural inaccuracies, I found this film to be delightful and touching. The setting is an Asian enclave in a Northwest Canadian coastal city where a 12 year old girl, lives with her mom who struggles to make ends meet (Dad abandoned them both a long time before)and never takes time for her own needs. In the same community is a man who owns a barbecue store which he intends to have his 20 year old son take over (but the son has other ideas), and a security guard who, with his lovely wife, is adjusting to the departure of their last child from the home.

The girl begins an intense study of Chinese magic in an attempt to help her mother win the lottery and a husband. Her amateurish application of magic, which, in a touch of magical realism seems to actually work (think Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Ang Lee), but not as originally intended. As things get worse, the girl, literally playing with fire, tries one magic weapon she had not dared to use before.

The beauty of this film is in the human story which has an Asian flavor, accurate or not, but which could have been set in the deep south (think "the heart is a lonely hunter"), Brooklyn, or anywhere there are single mothers struggling to raise children and children beginning to have dreams for their lives. Of course I don't believe in magic, Chinese or otherwise, but is is a wonderful vehicle that makes the story move forward on everyman's (and every-girl's) journey to Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity.

LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY shares some qualities with some of its north of the border Reel 13 Canadian Indie counterparts. It is a slice of life multi-protagonist piece akin to the awful, but highly-rated WILBY WONDERFUL with the misguided mystical elements that were woven throughout A PROBLEM WITH FEAR. LLHP does a much better job in developing its characters than WILBY did and the mysticism in question is based on ancient Chinese culture and therefore, somehow seems less contrived and more elegant than the inexplicable technology-based type from FEAR.

So, the script, on the whole, is decent. While there are several comedic moments that fall flat, there are many others that are genuinely funny in almost a Shakespearean way (one character's rendition of "Sometimes When We Touch" remains my fave). There are some structural deficiencies (neighbors' gossip as a form of exposition is never a good move), screenwriters Mina Shum and Dennis Foon paint their characters honestly and not a one of the three story lines seems to be favored over the others. Unfortunately, the performances in the film don't help to elevate the script in any way.

In the blog for WILBY WONDERFUL, I alluded to my general distaste for Sandra Oh's work. In LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY, however, she towers over the other actors in the film, but that's not saying much. Almost every other actor (the main kid Mindy is okay – appropriately precocious) in the piece seems new to film acting. They all seem extremely uncomfortable, delivering their lines as if they didn't really believe them. While Oh is significantly stronger than the rest of the cast, she's not fabulous either. She has several good comic moments and a few good serious ones, but she really pushes during the very emotional moments and that's never fun to watch.

There is plenty of charm in LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY, enough that I found myself wanting to like it more than I ultimately did. Overall, the premise of the film – that a little girl playing with ancient Chinese charms changes the fortunes of all the people around her – is a little hard to buy, but it's not dissimilar to the kind of farce you might find in more classical fare like Moliere or even ancient Greek comedies. At the end of the day, however, the performances sunk this ship. If you can't believe the characters whose story you're watching, it makes for a pretty rough journey. All the charm(s) in the world can't save you there.

(Find out more about this film or other Reel 13 films on www.reel13.org)

This movie is made by a Canadian Chinese director who does not understand Chinese culture. She does not even speak the language. Now, how many chinese people who speak perfect English would work in a chinese restaurant as portrayed in the movie? Many things are exaggerated about the chinese culture and unfortunately, it creates new stereotypes unheard of before. Immigrant families will not make the 2nd generation continue in the same 'profession' - as what the BBQ store guy tried to do in the movie.

People may find this movie sweet with the cute little girl running around trying to create a witch's brew with ideas created for this movie only. Non of this exists in chinese cultural supersticion.

And what's up with the Sandra Oh girl? She is being used for the 2nd time in Mina shum's movies, they must be best friends... using a Korean to portray a Chinese is nuts.

In summary, if you are someone from a chinese culture and understands it clearly, you will be scratching your head after watching this movie. Otherwise, those viewing from the outside will get a chuckle and will wonder more if this is actually what's going on inside a chinese family.

This is a completely charming movie about a little girl's attempts to use traditional Chinese magic to improve her mother's life. Valerie Tian completely steals the show in the role of the little girl. Sandra Oh and Chang Tseng also give good performances, as you would expect.