Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart [Blu-ray] [Criterion Collection]

Director: Wayne Wang Wayne Wang

Overview

Wayne Wang's follow-up to his low-budget success Chan Is Missing is a gentle, slice-of-life comedy about the shifting relationship between a widowed mother and her thirty-year-old unmarried daughter in San Francisco's Chinatown. Mrs. Tam (Kim Chew) lives with her youngest daughter Geraldine (Laureen Chew) -- her older children having already left home. Geraldine is a graduate student who wants to live on her own but tells herself that she should stay at home with her mother and her Uncle Tam (Victor Wong), a happy-go-lucky bartender who would like to marry Mrs. Tam if only Geraldine would just go away and get married. Mrs. Tam, convinced that she will die before she hits 62, wants to see her daughter married. But under the surface, Mrs. Tam likes Geraldine's presence in her house, Uncle Tam may not be serious about his marriage intentions, and Geraldine herself could possibly be using her mother as an excuse not to get married and have to assume responsibility.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/15/2023
UPC:	0715515286015
Original Release:	1985
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Time:	1:24:00
Sales rank:	8,273

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kim Chew	Mrs. Tam,Geraldine Tam,Linda Tam,Baby Tam
Victor Wong	Uncle Tam
Ida F.O. Chung	Auntie May
Cora Miao	Julia
John Nishio	Richard
Amy Hill	Amy Tam
Keith Choy	Kevin Tam
Elsa Cruz Pearson	Eliza
Mary Chew	Old Mah Jong Player
Nora Lee	Old Mah Jong Player
Joan Chen	Young Mah Jong Player
Rita Yee	Young Mah Jong Player
George Wu	Bar patron
Todd Boekelheide	Composer

Technical Credits

Terrel Seltzer

Tom Sternberg	Producer
Vincent Tai	Executive Producer
Wayne Wang	Director,Producer
Danny Yung	Producer
Terrel Seltzer	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Inspired when director Wayne Wang saw a pair of Western shoes left outside the home of a Chinese-American family, Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart is a gentle, almost fragile exploration of three characters who are using each other as an excuse to keep living in a safe, if unexciting, manner. Using his camera unobtrusively, Wang lets it catch the stray details -- the way in which Mrs. Tam converses over the back fence, the conflicting emotions that cross Geraldine's face at a brief pause in the conversation -- that cumulatively create fully rounded characters. At times, Wang is a little too unobtrusive -- the film does meander occasionally, and there is no strong plot to pull all the strings together. Still, Dim Sum beguiles, creating a milieu that is welcoming and pleasant, even when things get a little rough for the characters. Wang's leads fill their roles effortlessly, making a trio that feel realistic and natural, and mining the humor underneath their everyday lives. They also invest their characters with an endearing loveableness. The film is not as technically polished as one might wish (although it is considerably more advanced that Wang's previous Chan is Missing), but most viewers will be willing to overlook this to embrace this warm, low key comedy.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler