Hollywood Chinese is both a history of the Chinese presence in American films and a meditation on the difficulties Chinese Americans have had in being seen as individuals and in putting the reality of their experience on screen.
Hollywood Chinese: The Chinese in American Feature Films (2008)
Synopsis: The Chinese have a long and little-documented history in American cinema. This documentary from Arthur Dong surveys their contributions from the silent-era to the 21st century, drawing attention to skewed racial representations. Among those who share their experiences in Hollywood are... The Chinese have a long and little-documented history in American cinema. This documentary from Arthur Dong surveys their contributions from the silent-era to the 21st century, drawing attention to skewed racial representations. Among those who share their experiences in Hollywood are Ang Lee, Wayne Wang, B.D. Wong, and Joan Chen. [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Reviews
The film is primarily a more astute-than-average combination of vintage footage and talking heads.
...details the blend of glory and frustration that still dogs Chinese-American performers in Hollywood.
An eye-opening documentary delineating how motion pictures have negatively impacted the Asian community, and how they are like to continue to effect impressionable young minds for generations to come.
Surprisingly entertaining, Hollywood Chinese, a fast-paced survey of how the Chinese have been portrayed in American films from the silent era to the present, is packed with unexpected delights.
Myriad, amazingly culled interviews with actors, filmmakers and historians add rich texture to this bracingly entertaining, fast-moving survey.
A welcome entry in the constituency-cinema canon, Hollywood Chinese surveys a century’s worth of Chinese-American actors and filmmakers, visionaries and dragon ladies, kung fu excellence and Fu Manchu insult, Oscar winners and cliché mongers.
Just in time for China’s (sometimes warranted) resurgence in the press as global bogeyman, Arthur Dong’s survey of Chinese-Americans’ prickly relationship with Hollywood is a fascinating exploration of the intricacies of cultural assimilation.
Half of the running time is devoted to clips both expected (The Good Earth) and refreshing (Marion Wong's undiscovered The Curse of Quon Gwon), the other to the musings of politely enraged talking heads.


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