Siao Yu

Review by Shelly Kraicer at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival

Siao Yu is not just another Taiwanese green-card movie. Despite the participation of both Ang Lee (producer) and James Schamus, Sylvia Chang manages to avoid the pratfalls of the genre. The relationship that develops between Mario (an ageing American writer) and Xiao Yu (recently arrived from China with her boyfriend) seems fresh, honest, and refreshingly free of the cross-cultural hangups that marked films like The Wedding Banquet and Farewell China. Ang Lee's work might be more polished, more finely crafted, but Sylvia Chang takes this movie deeper. SIAO YU's emotional sophistication is supported by a fine Taiwanese and American cast. Daniel Travanti gives a nicely nuanced performance (when he doesn't overact), Liu Joyin (aka Rene Lau Yuek-Ying, on the Rock Records home page) makes an impressive debut as Xiao Yu.  
 

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