User reviews

In director Alan Yang's Emmy winning speech for Master of None in 2016, he said that despite there being 17 million Asian-Americans in this country, there was still a lack of representation in television and film. Tigertail is undoubtedly a step towards that direction.

Set over four different time periods across both Taiwan and New York, Tigertail is an immigrant story at heart. When Pin-Jui (played by Tzi Ma) is still a teenager, he reluctantly enters into an arranged marriage as a means to provide money for his ailing mother. He leaves behind his girlfriend and emigrates to New York. After a few years, Pin-Jui and his wife have a daughter of their own, of whom Pin-Jui has a fractured relationship.

From one angle, this immigrant story is formulaic. Parents, with nothing in common, struggle in a foreign land for the sake of their children. But from another angle, Yang shows us nuances and subtleties that demand a deeper inspection. The miniature piano that Pin-Jui scavenges for his wife but remains unplayed over the years. Pin-Jui repeatedly opening and closing the metal gate to his small grocery store through the seasons, showing the passage of time. Pin-Jui's daughter crying in the backseat after being scolded after a piano recital gone wrong.

One nuance that reverberates throughout the film is language. The film features three different languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese Hokkien. Each language represents a different generation: Pin-Jui's mother exclusively speaks Taiwanese, Pin-Jui primarily speaks Chinese, and Pin-Jui's daughter speaks English. For the entire film, all of the dialogue between Pin-Jui and his daughter is in English. It's not until her father brings her to where he grew up and finally tells her the story of his upbringing: How he gave up his life for another. It's only here, in the final moments of the film where she speaks Chinese for the first time and asks, "What was her name?"

Covering four different time periods in the span of a mere ninety minutes was an ambitious task, and for that reason, the movie feels particularly rushed. Perhaps more attention could have been placed on capturing the relationship between the father and daughter: This has always been a core piece of what it means to be a child of immigrants. Furthermore, the stitching of scenes across different time periods don't always translate well to Pin-Jui's character development as an adult. It's only until the final fifteen minutes of the film do you see this unfold.

Overall, Yang is able to capture the right emotions in his directorial debut and tells a classic story in his own way. The subtleties, reflecting both an Asian-American heritage and relatable familial scenes establish a fulfilling level of depth to the film. True to his own words, you can't help but wonder what Yang will do next.

"Tigertail" is one of the better films I've seen lately. A moving yet quiet film that offers viewers a look inside immigrant life. . In this drama, a Taiwanese factory worker leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in America, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and newfound responsibilities. . I found this film to be more compelling and resonant than 2019's "The Farewell". "Tigertail" had my full attention from the start until the very bittersweet end. You get to see a completely other side of writer/director Alan Yang ("Master Of None") and he leaves filmmaker imprints as he goes along. The performances in this film are great as well; the iconic Tzi Ma ("The Farewell", "Arrival") really gets to show off his acting chops here playing a quiet but struggling man. You feel his pain and conflict throughout. I didn't think I'd enjoy "Tigertail" as much as I did and I think you should definitely stream it on Netflix. . Follow @snobmedia for more reviews!

That closing shot.

As a story about someone letting it all kinda get away from them (themselves, their desires, their ability to connect emotionally) not due to some significant event but just through their everyday decisions and the passage of time, it's pretty depressing. But also funny and beautiful at times.

It made me real sad despite having no connection to the material or the immigrant experience.

Writer-director Alan Yang has absorbed the full measure of auteur Wong Kar Wai, whose lovingly intimate In the Mood for Love is my litmus test for modern Asian cinema at its best. Although Netflix's Tigertail may be more realistic than Mood, it captures a middle-aged Ping Jui (Tzi Ma) romanticizing his past as he struggles to connect with his estranged daughter, Angela (Christine Ko) in the present.

Do not look to this drama for an eye-popping American love story, for it is Asian in its restraint and its lyrical understatement. After facing deep disappointment as an immigrant to America with his arranged wife, handsome Ping adjusts to the realities of life and the boredom of his marriage.

Salving his despair are the images of his former love, Yuan (Joan Chen), whom he left to go to America on his factory boss's dime and with the boss's daughter as bride. Although American romances often end with a pleasant alignment, Yang does not indulge us on such fantasies.

Tigertail smacks us with the vagaries of immigration, not the thorny process the news underlines today but rather the disappointment an immigrant might experience as he watches his American dream collapse under the weight of a reality check that includes substandard housing and menial jobs.

The latter part of Tigertail is about the glacial change that comes to Ping after his mom dies, his wife leaves him, and he must try to connect with Angela, unaccustomed as he is to saying anything much of anything to her. His Asian paternalism and cold restraint make communication challenging.

The painful reunion is the strength of the film: Most of us have at least one family member we should reach out to, but we may lack the willingness or interpersonal skills. Yet, those skills can come slowly but surely as we face them to overcome them.

Tigertail is a small drama filled with humanity, superior acting, and enviable cinematography. John Ford would be happy to see how Yang honors him with a final shot that recalls the famous frame shot in The Searchers. Tzi is no John Wayne, but they share characters with a remoteness that plagues cultures and families for all times.

As we struggle with the pandemic's demand for social distancing, Tigertail shows the effects of it in everyday real life.

I watched this on Netflix, and the premise was very interesting. A man leaves the love of his love in Taiwan for the chance of immigrating to America with his boss's daughter, and he decides to seek the love he left behind as an old man as well as get along with his estranged daughter.

Though the narrative was interesting, well, I felt that the film could've done more with the characters, esp. Yuan, who is played by veteran actress Joan Chen. I think she should've had more screen time given her acting prowess, and perhaps this could've been a limited series. Maybe I'm insisting on what the movie should've been instead of accepting what it was, but by the time it ended, I was sorta left hanging.

Still, this type of tale should be told more often. As the parents of Asian immigrants myself, it struck a chord with me.

Now available on Netflix, this multi-generational drama follows a Taiwanese factory worker who leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in the US, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and newfound responsibilities.

The two aspects I loved the most about Tigertail were the score (which sounded amazing and perfectly fit the tone) and the non-linear storytelling that kept the story interesting to follow. I, also, liked how they shot part of the movie on film - when the lead character was young - as it gave it more personality. Other than that, I found Tigertail to be a rather by-the-books drama with interesting but, perhaps, underdeveloped commentary on immigration. The movie is quite short and never feels dull or boring, though, so I would recommend it to fans of this kind of dramas.

6/10 or 7/10 (can't decide)

A movie about people from Taiwan who came to US after they are in their twenties, however, the cast was picked of actors mostly from mainland China and USA. Watching them speaking mandarin as Taiwanese with strong mainland accent; or speaking perfect native English as an aged Taiwanese is just unreal. The director should simply hire Taiwanese cast to shoot the film.

This should be a story about Taiwanese immigrants. However, many actors are not Taiwanese and their accent ruins the experience.

I have beared witness to my Taiwanese family and friends who also left Taiwan in the late 60's and early 70's. The emotional and financial sacrifice to forge a possibly(but not guaranteed) better future for your family in a land of a different tongue and color is tremendous. It takes a special breed of person to take upon this burden. Certainly not the type of entitled brats who so easily criticize the accents of the actors. To me, the spoken Taiwanese, the rice fields, the Taiwanese house courtyards, the nightmarkets, the obligatory piano playing are all a jumbulaya of nostalgia for me. This story rings true to me. Sorry for the rant. I'm hungry now, Wa be ki ja bung.

This is a story of a Taiwanese boy who comes to the US with his wife to work and grow. The story has some flashbacks to his past. There are many different locations in the US and Taiwan. The background music of the scenes is in harmony with them. The most challenging part of watching this movie was following the subtitles in most of the scenes since they don't talk in English. In summary, I recommend watching this movie to drama fans (especially those who like romantic dramas).

If your Asian actors can't be bothered to imitate a Taiwanese accent or you can't hire a dialect coach to train them, at least dub their lines for chrissakes. It was absolutely painful and distracting to watch someone say that they are from central Taiwan in a full-blown Chinese accent.

A touching father daughter relationship at the core of it. A bit of a downer but it redeemed itself with a heartfelt ending

This is a beautiful and effortless movie. Every aspect complimented one another. The soundtrack, the simple but effective shots, the scenery. The details seemed well thought out.

The story was simple but not in a bad way by any means. It managed to tell the fundamentals of how the main character became the person he is. However some details were left hanging in the air without explanation. The mixing of past and present worked. I thought this movie succeeded in showing and not telling. I adored all the scenes from Taiwan! They were absolutely beautiful.

I felt the emotions of the characters and wanted the best for them. I especially loved Pin-Jui's mom. She had this ambiance around her that I couldn't help but feel warmth every time she was on screen.

The dialogue was the weak link of this movie. It fell on the monotonous side in my opinion. I especially thought about this during the scenes with Pin-Jui and his daughter. They fell flat for me. Some of the actors were good and others average.

I enjoyed watching this movie. It very beautiful shots, heartfelt and slow atmosphere and emotionality. It wasn't a perfect movie by any means: the dialogue between some characters just honestly wasn't good and some details were left unexplained. Despite it's flaws this movie is worth watching.

First of all, I'm really appreciated for the filmmaker's effort and his ambition to describe a story of a Taiwanese immigrant, and I am surprised that this film came to Taiwan trying to depict a full picture to audience. However, as a Taiwanese, especially a Taiwanese from mid area of Taiwan (just exactly like the ex-wife that followed her man to the United States), I need to point out some, or let's say, a lot of ridiculous mistakes that a Taiwanese would feel uneasy when seeing this film.

1. In mid and south part of Taiwan, we use Taiwanese as a family language, not Mandarin. So when I saw the main character replying his mother with Mandarin, it feels awkward. Not to mention that his wife! How come a girl growing up in Wunlin speaks Mandarin with a perfect Beijing accent? It is really insulting for a Taiwanese audience.

2. This is not a story for a traditional Taiwanese. It is a story more suitable for a Wuai-Shen man or mainlander (means people followed KMT government to Taiwan after 1945). My family is a traditional Taiwanese family. My father had never went to pub in his 20s, nor had he lived in such a Mainlander style house.

3. The town Tigertail is in Wunlin. If you ask any Taiwanese from Wunlin, they would never tell you that Wunlin is in mid area in Taiwan. But the director's family moved to the United States many years ago. It is an allowable mistake.

Overall, I am thankful that the director is willing to tell a story of Taiwanese. However, as a Taiwanese studying Taiwanese films, I strongly suggest the director pay much more attention not only on Hou Hsiao-Hsien or Edward Yang, but also those brilliant Taiwanese filmmakers like Hsu Pu-Liao, our comic icon in Taiwan.

Tigertail is a mosaic of memories in which the desire for redemption seeks a balance between arrivals and departures.

On the narrative level, the power that the details acquire in his flashbacks is interesting, transforming now into fixed points, now into the coordinates necessary to guide his subsequent awareness. On this wavelength, the screenplay offers the protagonist the opportunity to make sense of his sacrifices, showing how the pursuit of happiness, the sharing of good but above all the conquest of a social status are not only the preserve of the American dream, but of all those who survived the loss and pain.

I was really excited by this film when I saw the trailer. An Asian-American film that blended classic Asian cinema and modern American taste. However, the final product misses its mark very sorely. While the visuals are pretty to look at, the lack of a coherent and cohesive story is crippling. While on paper, this film is supposed to be a deep character study of Pin-Jui, the film doesn't connect the dots and explain why he is the way he is. Finally, the dialogue in the film is painfully on-the-nose. There is a lot of telling, no showing. This kind of personal film is hard to make - Yang tried to tell his father's story. Telling your parent's story is almost intrinsically difficult. By definition, you are removed from that time, place, and life. I wonder if Yang would have succeeded more if he were paired with a native Taiwanese writer his father's age.

"Tigertail" is tender and well-constructed in its navigation of the nuances of identity, family, and the immigrant experience. The story of a Taiwanese-American man, trying to get through the present while reflecting on his past, is rich in emotions and cultural insight. Understatedly performed, especially by Tzi Ma, it gives authenticity to what is a journey of many-generational and personal struggles. It is so cinematically vibrant, delicately grasping the subtleties of its environments to create a much better view of the story. To some, it may seem deliberate in pacing, but "Tigertail" certainly stands out as moving and introspective, with strong resonance from thoughtfulness in portraying human connections and searching for self.

This film manages to create a really unique atmosphere, with leaps in the narrative timeline between two stories. However, when it comes to the development of the story, it only manages to show a bland essay about love.

Finding the perfect movie when you can't go outside is harder than you'd think. Take it from someone who's been locked down in Brooklyn for nearly a month -- most movies will start to blend together into a pleasant, but unremarkable haze.

Tigertail is the exception to that rule.

Its gorgeous cinematography seduces with exotic locales that feel tantalizing close. The dialogue is sharp, biting. Alan Yang (Emmy-award winning writer behind this masterpiece) has transformed the standard Netflix formula of stunning visuals and meh story into a glimpse at the future of movies.

It'll be a long, long time before any New Yorker gets to wildly overpay for a tub of lukewarm buttered popcorn for the privilege of a true cinematic escape in the grand tradition. Until then, crack a cold one and try Tigertail.

The relationship of father and daughter i guess many people can echo it, especially if you are Chinese or Taiwanese. Leaving hometown and details in the movie is a reflection of many immigrants feeling. It's not a love story but the makes me vividly recall the 96 movie "almost a love story". View it as a art piece.

It was a good plot but failed delivery. The whole thing is just one big artsy film wannabe. It's annoying. Tzi Ma does not fit in this genre. Acting of everyone in the present time America is annoying. The young actors in Taiwan are the only good thing about this film

Tiger Tail is a slow, poignant movie. It's a representation of the immigrants from Taiwan to the US around 70s. What they thought America was, how they longed to come to America, yet only to find it is nothing like their imagination. How they worked so hard in the US, and yet lost the ability to communicate well with their family. I like the depiction of the relationship of Angela and her father. The conversations are great. I like the ending.