Crazy Rich Asians - Something Familiar
Thoughts On: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
A young Asian-American woman flies off to Singapore to meet her boyfriends family for the first time - unbeknownst to her, they are incredibly wealthy.
I did not go into Crazy Rich Asians with high expectations; I didn't really know what to expect apart from something light and most probably mediocre. What I got was strangely familiar. Crazy Rich Asians essentially feels like a typhlodramatised, an Americanised or Hollywood-ified, 80/90s Bollywood film - a semi-realist, less melodramatic version of DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge). Quickly recognising this, I knew this would be a film that saw two lovers meet and one partner's family disprove of the other (for reasons concerning religion, caste or race). The couple would fight to be together, but all would come to a point at which the protagonist, the lower class, or otherwise 'other', lover, would have to choose to betray familial traditions inherent to a collectivist ethos or lose their lover. In making the right decision, in choosing to sacrifice their love, something would happen before the protagonist: the parents would have a sudden realisation of sorts, and the two lovers would be brought together and live happily ever after; the fundamental message implying that when sacrifice, truth and love coalesce, one formulates one of the strongest of social structures possible that even tradition cannot break (at least in the ideal world).
If you have seen Crazy Rich Asians, you may think I am describing this film specifically. If you are familiar with Indian cinema, however, you are highly aware that what I have just described is a classical narrative that has been put to film without too much alteration hundreds and thousands of times. Being a fan of Shah Rukh Khan movies, I don't despise the recycling of this archetypal, Mughal-e-Azam-esque narrative. It was fascinating to see a prominent Hollywood film, one that is clearly trying to make a statement, to globalise its cinema, imitate the most dominant form of Asian cinema: Bollywood. I would be further fascinated to know if director Jon M. Chu consciously constructed a narrative of this sort, or if it naturally emerged out of him trying to genuinely tell a 'Singaporean', 'Asian-American', 'Asian' or 'Eastern' story (from his interviews, this seems to be the case), and if he is familiar with Bollywood cinema.
That said, the positives of this film come from its narrative arc, which, as said, is a replica of the archetypal Bollywood romance. The meaning that then emerges from a depiction of a character who finds strength before denial, who remains genuine and composed before spite and is more than prepared to act with the highest dignity, morality and self-respect when faced with utmost adversity, is the selling point of this film. This is not particularly good, however, for, whilst it manages to get down on the page a strong, archetypal narrative arc, it does not tell it in a particularly unique, exciting or insightful manner. The side-characters are then flat, the main characters are only slightly interesting, the comedy is mediocre, the script is ok and the direction is satisfactory. Underlying this film is also a somewhat distasteful, exploitative spectacle; Asia conceptually used as a base attraction. This renders all hints of cultural curiosity about this film, all the facts and insights we are given into Singaporean culture, rather inane and childish; the audience spoken down upon, the glitz and glamour of rich Asians used to beckon us into the contrived drama.
Ultimately, I am then very sceptical about Crazy Rich Asians as the 'ground-breaking' and 'culturally important' film it is being sold as and is seemingly assuming it is. Much like many other efforts to make films centralised around female empowerment and liberal inclusivity, this feels disingenuous. I always feel that we'll only be able to judge these films soberly in at least 20 years, but, being too conscious of the context in which this has been made, this feels mediocre at best, pretentious at worst to me. What are your thoughts, however?
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Gerald's Game - Eclipse
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End Of The Week Shorts #77
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
A young Asian-American woman flies off to Singapore to meet her boyfriends family for the first time - unbeknownst to her, they are incredibly wealthy.
I did not go into Crazy Rich Asians with high expectations; I didn't really know what to expect apart from something light and most probably mediocre. What I got was strangely familiar. Crazy Rich Asians essentially feels like a typhlodramatised, an Americanised or Hollywood-ified, 80/90s Bollywood film - a semi-realist, less melodramatic version of DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge). Quickly recognising this, I knew this would be a film that saw two lovers meet and one partner's family disprove of the other (for reasons concerning religion, caste or race). The couple would fight to be together, but all would come to a point at which the protagonist, the lower class, or otherwise 'other', lover, would have to choose to betray familial traditions inherent to a collectivist ethos or lose their lover. In making the right decision, in choosing to sacrifice their love, something would happen before the protagonist: the parents would have a sudden realisation of sorts, and the two lovers would be brought together and live happily ever after; the fundamental message implying that when sacrifice, truth and love coalesce, one formulates one of the strongest of social structures possible that even tradition cannot break (at least in the ideal world).
If you have seen Crazy Rich Asians, you may think I am describing this film specifically. If you are familiar with Indian cinema, however, you are highly aware that what I have just described is a classical narrative that has been put to film without too much alteration hundreds and thousands of times. Being a fan of Shah Rukh Khan movies, I don't despise the recycling of this archetypal, Mughal-e-Azam-esque narrative. It was fascinating to see a prominent Hollywood film, one that is clearly trying to make a statement, to globalise its cinema, imitate the most dominant form of Asian cinema: Bollywood. I would be further fascinated to know if director Jon M. Chu consciously constructed a narrative of this sort, or if it naturally emerged out of him trying to genuinely tell a 'Singaporean', 'Asian-American', 'Asian' or 'Eastern' story (from his interviews, this seems to be the case), and if he is familiar with Bollywood cinema.
That said, the positives of this film come from its narrative arc, which, as said, is a replica of the archetypal Bollywood romance. The meaning that then emerges from a depiction of a character who finds strength before denial, who remains genuine and composed before spite and is more than prepared to act with the highest dignity, morality and self-respect when faced with utmost adversity, is the selling point of this film. This is not particularly good, however, for, whilst it manages to get down on the page a strong, archetypal narrative arc, it does not tell it in a particularly unique, exciting or insightful manner. The side-characters are then flat, the main characters are only slightly interesting, the comedy is mediocre, the script is ok and the direction is satisfactory. Underlying this film is also a somewhat distasteful, exploitative spectacle; Asia conceptually used as a base attraction. This renders all hints of cultural curiosity about this film, all the facts and insights we are given into Singaporean culture, rather inane and childish; the audience spoken down upon, the glitz and glamour of rich Asians used to beckon us into the contrived drama.
Ultimately, I am then very sceptical about Crazy Rich Asians as the 'ground-breaking' and 'culturally important' film it is being sold as and is seemingly assuming it is. Much like many other efforts to make films centralised around female empowerment and liberal inclusivity, this feels disingenuous. I always feel that we'll only be able to judge these films soberly in at least 20 years, but, being too conscious of the context in which this has been made, this feels mediocre at best, pretentious at worst to me. What are your thoughts, however?
Previous post:
Gerald's Game - Eclipse
Next post:
End Of The Week Shorts #77
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
