A deliberately modest but genuine delight, full of wicked humor, suspenseful touches, and perceptive insights about the experiences of Chinese immigrants in America. Two San Francisco cab drivers (played by Moy and Hayashi) have their savings stolen by the elusive "Chan Hung" and spend the rest of the film tracking him down. Along the way the film potently considers the problems with the generation gap among Chinese-Americans and conflicts between those Chinese from the mother country and those born in America.
A fine, funny independent production filmed on a minuscule budget in San Francisco's Chinatown by Wayne Wang (DIM SUM and EAT A BOWL OF TEA), CHAN IS MISSING deservedly became a major art-house success. Its cleverness extends even to the film's title, with CHAN suggesting both Charlie Chan (and
hence many of the stereotypes commonly held about the Chinese) and "CHinese-americAN". leave a comment
