Mail Order Wife

I can't believe people this this movie was a real documentary.

I am an ex-pat living in Hong Kong, so I was really curious when I saw this DVD in the shop. Within 10 minutes of watching it, I was confused. This chick is supposed to be from Burma. Let me tell you now, Burmese is not Chinese. She opens speaking Mandarin.....which I thought was quite strange.....then later she spoke the Cantonese dialect, which is only used in Hong Hong and the Canton province's in China (notably Guanzhou). This didn't seem right....after looking it up IMDb, I realized that she is actually Hong Kong Chinese. Not only that, she is a famous actress in Hong Kong, more recently playing a lead role in Memoirs of a Geisha.

They could of at least portrayed her as Chinese, and not Burmese. And the fact that her dialect changed from Mandarin to Cantonese, made it obvious that this was fake. The producers really should have done their homework. But then again, I guess most people in the Western world wouldn't know this.

Just a little insight that I thought you all would like to know.

Refer your friends to the interview(s) in which Gurland refers to this film as a "documentary" in production, then watch their jaws hit the floor as you all witness perhaps the most memorable use of PostIt Notes and a Cadillac El Dorado ever committed to film. Despite the clearly stated genre of "narrative feature" in the SXSW program, I somehow got suckered into missing the fact that this is a mockumentary. The contrast between the doorman's anachronistically furnished and dimly lit Queens hovel and the filmmaker's bright, Crate and Barrel-esque (Manhattan?) flat creates a palpable sense of class warfare that really sells the "reality" of this film to the duped viewer. The scene in the doctor's office was the only one that I almost didn't believe, but it was done so well that I still bought it. I loved every hilarious and painful minute of this film. Within its genre, I give it a 10/10.

I was completely fooled by this. I really thought it was a Documentary. I must admit when Litchi started screaming she wanted a baby and the part where the co-director's father secreted her off to a hotel room I did wonder if it was all a put-on. Just brilliant in sustaining the illusion of reality storytelling. Knowing in advance it's all a mockumentary does ruin it a bit but not knowing makes this an amazing piece of film making to watch unfold. Apparently this was all scripted but it comes across as completely spontaneous. I'd certainly keep an eye on this film maker in the future. He has an edge to him that is lacking in a lot of more mainstream Hollywood directors.

The rating for this film might be a little misleading. Judging by the comments it seems that many of the people who gave it a low score did so out of the sorrow they felt for the main character, and the disgust they felt for the men using her rather than out of a low opinion of the quality of the film. I actually think that the people who gave this film the lowest score are some of the people who felt the exact way the filmmakers want the audience to feel.

This film reminds me of "Dogville" in a way. They both do a good job at demonstrating the immoral and vile behavior that humans can practice toward one another when it's self-serving, and the justifications they can give. (You wonder sometimes if people really believe what they put forth as their point of view, if they grow to believe it out of a need to relieve guilt or if they secretly live in the guilt, being eaten up and causing their often defensive and miserable dispositions.) Don't get me wrong, this film is no Dogville, but the filmmakers do a decent job at revealing this human flaw that is the bane of this society. It's mockumentary style allows us to connect the characters to their real life counterparts rather than tossing their awful behavior aside as just something fictional (though it was).

It was a smart film. It takes thought to make up for lack of budget, and that's why you find some of the best films in the independent film world. I have friends who are filmmakers (honestly, none worked on this film). I hope more filmmakers dig a little deeper, be it in comedy, drama, horror, or whatever. These guys made a film that stays with you past the last bite of popcorn. That's an accomplishment.

i hated andrew and adrian. and at least you know what kind of a jerk adrian is right up front. andrew was by far the worse human being. i guess since i've known a few filipino mail order brides who came over looking for a better life and married white American losers whom no American women could put up with, i recognized too much behavior in adrian and then andrew. what a jerk. there was nothing that Lucia did that made me think she deserved either one of those men, or any of the other men she had experience with. (heck, yes, i even know the horny old goats too who want to take advantage.)

the things people will put up with in pursuit of possible betterment of their situations.

what possessed this guy to make a film like this? exposing even a fictional jerk side of himself???? bleah.