Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir

I just happened upon this title tonight on Netflix. I have a vague memory of the book "Joy Luck Club," that I'd remembered seeing at #1 on the best sellers list some time ago, and love biographies, so I decided to give it a watch.

It was a fascinating study of her life, growing up as an Asian-American, along with all of its cultural and family issues. She went on to break female Asian writer barriers, when her first book above soared to the top of the best sellers list. It was very riveting to hear about the qualities of a writer from her point of view.

I was so impressed by this documentary that I now want to read "The Joy Luck Club," and perhaps some of her later works. A great film for any biography buff.

In 2021, there is so much good stuff out there to stream, that I very rarely will watch something that hasn't been reviewed very much, and this one wasn't. But I am a big Amy Tan fan, with "The Joy Luck Club" movie one of my favorite films of the 90's (I read the book too, but I think the movie is better, which is a whole other discussion!), and I thought "The Bonesetter's Daughter" was magnificent. So I decided to give it a go. I think this documentary was excellent for two primary reasons.

The first one is that the highs and lows of Tan's life are very dramatic, especially with regard to her mother and her mother's life. I didn't realize that Tan had incorporated many of these things into her work. For better or worse, much of Tan's life is like a good fiction piece, except that it's not fiction. The second reason this documentary is so good is Tan herself. She is down-to-earth, humble, and very likeable.

I was going to say that I'm not sure how much people would appreciate this documentary if they don't know much about Amy Tan, but the previous reviewer didn't know much about Tan, and liked it. So I guess then everyone should see this!

"Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir" (2021 release; 101min.) is a documentary about the life and times of "The Joy Luck Club" author. As the movie opens, Ms. Tan is introduced at the Lesher Speaker Series to give a talk about her life experiences. We then go back in time as we are introduced to Amy's parents, who arrived separately in California in the late 1940s to escape the chaos in China. Amy retells how her mother, not the easiest person in the world, would install a common sense about her Chinese heritage. But then at age 15, Amy's dad and her oldest brother both died within 6 months of each other due to illness... At this point we are less than 15 min. Into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the last documentary from director James Redford (son of Robert), who sadly pass away last Fall at age 58 resulting from cancer. As it turns out, this is one of his better documentaries, taking a close look at Amy Tan's life and times. I must admit, I didn't know much of her before seeing this (I have not read her breakthrough book, 1989's "The Joy Luck Club" not have I seen the 1993 big screen adaptation). In the end, the documentary feels as if it is more about a difficult mother-daughter relationship than it is just bout Amy Tan. And her mom's hidden story is revealed, layer after layer, Bottom line: this is a documentary well worth seeking out, regardless of how familiar or not (like I was) with Amy Tan you were beforehand.

"Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir" premiered on PBS this week as part of its ongoing "American Masters" franchise, and it is now available on PBS On Demand and other streaming services. I quite liked it, but of course don't take my word for it, so I encourage you to check this out and draw your own conclusion. RIP James Redford.

This was so wonderful to watch never heard a more intelligent honest woman tell a story like this before, what an amazing journey she has been on with sadness and success hated for it to end.