Eye For Film >> Movies >> BBC House Special (2003) Film Review
BBC House Special
Reviewed by: Amber Wilkinson
Chi-Chi Tang and Gar-Yung Wong are British-born Chinese. In this interesting factual short they talk about their experiences of both cultures and what having a foot in both Chinese and British traditions means to them.
Their diverse comments - from the work ethic passed on by their parents to their failed attempts to get into Cantonese pop music - are laid over a film showing the everyday goings on in the kitchen of a Chinese takeaway.
Particularly interesting is the fact that you never see the interviewees. With no trace of a Chinese accent - Chi-Chi is from Nottingham and Gar-Yung from Cornwall - the viewer's perception of what it means to be British-born Chinese is challenged, too. Would we judge them differently if we just met them on the street and make assumptions about their birthplace?
Director Ray Wong has something important to say about perception - and he says it with elegance and panache. What makes them different isn't an accent or a place of birth, it is their cultural mix - which is rendered vividly, with humour.
Reviewed on: 31 May 2006