FLOAT

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON "FLOAT": I FORGOT TO MENTION THE EXCELLENT SCENE BETWEEN WAVERLY & HER PARENTS WHEN SHE TEARFULLY BEGS THEM TO HAVE A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER. MS. BANG GAVE A HARROWING PERFORMANE IN THAT SCENE, & THERE WAS ALSO VERY FOOD WORK BY FIONA FU & KEONG SIM AS HER PARENTS & BY MICHELLE KRUSIEC AS HER AUNT RACHEL.

I HAVEN'T READ THE KATE MARCHANT NOVEL ON WHICH THIS FILM IS BASED (ALTHOUGH I'LL CERTAINLY TRY TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH MS. MARCHANT'S WRITING AFTER SEEING THIS FILM). HOWEVER, I THOUGHT T WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR DIRECTOR SHERREN LEE TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER, WAVERLY (PLAYED HERE BY ANDREA BANG) A CHINESE WOMAN BECAUSE THAT ADDED A NEW DIMENSION TO THE DIFFICULTY THAT WAVERLY HAD IN MAINTAINING A RELATIONSHIP WIT THE WHITE MAN, BLAKE (ROBBIE AMELL). (EVEN THOUGH THE DIFFERENCES IN THEIR RACES WAS NEVER EXPLICITLY SPELLED OUT). WE FIRST GET A SENSE OF THE INNER CONFLICT WITHIN WAVERLY WHEN SHE ASKS BLAKE WHY HE IS WILLING TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME TEACHING HER HOW TO SWIM, & HE TELLS HER HE LIKES SPENDING TIME WITH HER . WE FIRST SEE A LOOK OF JOY ON MS. BANG'S FACE & THEN WE SEE LOOK OF ANXIETY ONHER FACE. WE DON'T FIND OUT WHY AT FIRST, BUT, WHEN WE SEE HOW THE DIFFICULTIES THAT BLAKE IS HAVING WITH HIS SISTER, ISABEL (SARAH DESJARDINS) CAUSES HIM TO TRY TO OPT OUT OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH WAVERLY BY TELLING HER THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP HAD JUST BEEN A "SUMMER FLING", MS. BANG GIVES US MORE OF A SENSE OF HOW WAVERLY FEELS. FIRST, WE SEE A DEVASTATED LOOK ON MS. BANG'S FACE , THEN, WHEN SHE TRIES TO ANSWER BLAKE BACK, SHE DELIVERS HER REPLY IN A STUMBLING WAY THAT SKILLFULLY CONVEYS HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO FIND THE RIGHT THING TO SAY IN SUCH CRITICAL MOMENTS. AND, WHEN WAVERLY & BLAKE MEET AGAIN TO DISCUSS THEIR RELATIONSHIP, DIRECTOR LEE AND HER CINEMATOGRAPHER, ALFONSO CHIN, KEEP SWITCHING THE CAMERA BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN WAVERLY AND BLAKE SO THAT WE GET TO SEE BOTH OF THEIR PERSPECTIVES. I JUST HOPE THAT MS. BANG & MS. LEE ARE BOTH REMEMBERED AT OSCAR TIME. I KNOW THAT HOLLYWOOD'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ASIAN ACTORS & ACTRESSES & DIRECTORS HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN GREAT. FOR EXAMPLE, ANNA MAY WONG GAVE A BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE IN "THE TOLL OF THE SEA" (ONE OF THE BEST SILENT FILMS), BUT SHE ONLY GOT TO PLAY SUPPORTING ROLES IN TALKING FILMS (SHE LOST OUT ON THE LEAD ROLE IN "THE GOOD EARTH." ) THE OFFICIAL REASON GIVEN OUT MGM WAS THAT IT WAS BECAUSE OF HER HEAVY CHINESE ACCENT, BUT OTHER SOURCES HAVE SAID THAT IT WAS BECAUSE PAUL MUNI WAS CAST AS THE LEAD MALE CHARCTER, & THE HAYS OFFICE REFUSED TO ALLOW TWO PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT RACES TO BE SEEN IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP) . IN MORE RECENT YEARS, THERE WAS NO OSCAR NOMINATIONS FOR GONG LI FOR "RAISE THE RED LANTERN" (ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE '90'S) OR FOR ANG LEE FOR "THE ICE STORM" & NO OSCAR NOMINATIONS THIS YEAR FOR GRETA LEE & CELINE SONG FOR "PAST LIVES." LET'S HOPE THAT THINGS WILL BE BETTER NEXT YEAR.