"Chinese-American film-maker Bing Liu made an impression with the poignant documentary Minding the Gap about people from his home town in Illinois; now he pivots to features with this sad and sombre study of romance and life choices among those on the margins of US society, adapted from the prize-winning novel of the same name by Atticus Lish. The scene is the no-questions-asked world of New York's Chinatown; newcomer Sebiye Behtiyar plays Aishe, a Chinese Uyghur Muslim undocumented immigrant."
"But the very question of any possible relationship brings other problems into focus: Skinner is on medication for PTSD, and as for Aishe, marrying a US citizen might not solve her residency worries; it might simply mean drawing attention to her questionable status and lead to imprisonment and expulsion. The film shows how the two slip into a limbo, drifting and circling around each other."
Bing Liu pivots to feature filmmaking with a sad, sombre study of romance and life choices among marginalized people in New York’s Chinatown. Sebiye Behtiyar plays Aishe, a Chinese Uyghur Muslim undocumented immigrant living in anonymity. Fred Hechinger plays Skinner, a young military veteran medicated for PTSD. Aishe and Skinner experience an initial spark that becomes a hesitant relationship complicated by legal, cultural, and psychological barriers. Marrying a US citizen risks exposing Aishe’s status, leading to imprisonment or expulsion, while Skinner’s moodiness and disappearances strain commitment. Aishe’s survival strategy of effacement undermines romance and prompts existential questions about faith, belonging and the limits of liberal tolerance.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]