Review by Jessica Carr
There is an intense anger brewing under the surface of Wayne Wang’s Coming Home Again. You can feel it even in the opening shot as Chang-Rae Lee (Justin Chon) runs up a hill. The camera is positioned far away at the top of the hill. As Rae gets closer to the camera, we realize he is sobbing. He pauses halfway up and screams out. Then it cuts to black.
The unease and tension just increases from there. Coming Home Again is based off of a 1995 New Yorker essay written by Korean-American novelist Chang-Rae Lee. Rae quit his job and moved back home when his mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The film focuses on the relationship between Rae and his mom as he tries to cook all the traditional Korean dishes she used to make him when he was young. Rae becomes his mom’s sole caretaker, making sure that her feeding tube is working properly and that she is as comfortable as possible. But he isn’t happy to be the dutiful son; instead, he seems resentful. As the movie progresses, we find out that his parents sent him to boarding school and he has resented them ever since.
That resentment can be felt throughout the whole movie. Its cold atmosphere falls over the audience and makes the viewing experience very uncomfortable. And the anger makes sense, right? It is understandable for someone to be angry that their mom has been diagnosed with stomach cancer, especially since she was a woman who loved cooking. It’s unfair that she was dealt these cards to deal with. But the movie doesn’t do a good job of trying to get the audience to connect with these feelings. The relationship between Rae and his mom isn’t explored enough. The two characters don’t feel like people I know; istead, everyone is cold and disconnected. They keep their feelings to themselves and they do everything robotically. After I watched the film, I had to wonder…was this what the essay was like? Did he mean for this experience to be presented so coldly? And after reading the essay itself, I don’t think it was. This seems to be a weird affectation from director Wayne Wang – one that doesn’t really match the source material or make the movie a space where audiences can come together and try to understand a story about grief. All of these things were really disappointing to me, especially right after watching the premiere of Blackbird, an American movie about a dying parent that is able to connect with audiences much more effectively.