A Great Wall (1986)

From iCulturalDiplomacy
Jump to: navigation, search
1986 agreatwall.jpg

The Cultural Difficulties of Reuniting with Family[edit]

This comedy looks into the life of Leo Fang, who immigrated to the US when he was ten years old, but returns to China with his wife and son to spend the summer with his family in Beijing. The film explores the challenges that Leo faces in communicating, both linguistically and culturally, with his family. What is most interesting about this film is to witness Leo’s adjustment to the Chinese culture that he had left long ago. His brother-in-law’s distrust of American culture provides an interesting insight into cultural differences. Despite being ostensibly a comedy, the film touches upon a variety of serious cross-cultural issues, such as discrimination in the American workplace, interracial dating, and the Asian-American identity.