Movie Review: Tigertail

Tigertail ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Alan Yang.   

Written by: Alan Yang.

Starring: Tzi Ma (Grover), Christine Ko (Angela), Hong-Chi Lee (Young Grover), Yo-Hsing Fang (Young Yuan), Fiona Fu (Zhenzhen), Joan Chen (Yuan), Kuei-Mei Yang (Minghua), Kunjue Li (Young Zhen Zhen), James Saito (Hank), Hayden Szeto (Eric), Cindera Che (Peijing), Muyi Chen (Chih-Hao), Zhi-Hao Yang (Child Grover), Hai-Yin Tsai (Child Yuan), Lynn Cheng (Child Angela), Li Li Pang (Yunxia).

 

A lot of first-time directors tell autobiographical stories – which is why we get so many earnest coming of age films from debut directors. So I give Alan Yang credit that he attempted something slightly more ambitious with his debut – Tigertail. Instead of telling his story, of a child of immigrants from Taiwan being raised in America, he instead tries to tell a story loosely based on his father – from his time in Taiwan, through coming to America, working hard, struggling, raising kids, but being incapable of talking to those kids. It’s story Yang told in more comedic terms in Master of None – the show he co-created with Aziz Ansari, which ran for two wonderful seasons on Netflix. But there is nothing comic about Tigertail – which is a very serious film. But, at just over 90-minutes, it feels too short, and too shallow to really tell the story he wants to tell. This feels like it should be an epic, Edward Yang-like film (Yang being a very clear influence here) – but instead, we get a trailer for what should have been a great film.

 

Yang tells the story of Grover, by flashing back and forth through time. When we first meet him, he is a young man in Taiwan – living with his hard-working mother. They are poor, they both have to work unsafe factory jobs – and Grover feels he needs to take care of her. He is in love with Yuan, and the two have an easy romantic chemistry together. But the factory owner also has a daughter – Zhenzhen – and is looking to marry her off. If Grover does that, he can move to America – where eventually, his plan is, to move his mother to an easier life.

 

Of course, it doesn’t go that way. We know that because we see scenes of an older Grover – played by the great Tzi Ma, as a sad, lonely, solitary figure. His wife has left him, he barely knows what to say to his own children – especially Angela (Christine Ko), a daughter who like her father works so hard that it cost her marriage. He didn’t even both to tell anyone he was returning to Taiwan to attend his mother’s funeral – he didn’t want to bother them.

 

Yang is clearly a talented writer and director. He’s been working for years on various sitcoms, and in recent years has been able to create or co-create some shows to tell more personal stories. There are moments here where Yang is clearly trying to emulate the great Wong Kar Wai – a pop song that can emotionally devastate Grover, who tries to his best to hide it. When he ends up throwing away that record, something is lost within him.

 

Tigertail is a very sad story. It’s the story of a man who gave up the woman he loved, and never truly found happiness. He didn’t love the woman he ended up marrying – who never loved him either, meaning their marriage was lonely. He drove his kids hard, but never really lets them inside. It’s only in the last 20 minutes or so, when Grover finally starts to open up – finally decides to let someone in.

 

But overall, Tigertail is the story of an emotional cripple – someone unable to express emotions, and for the most part even suppresses them to himself. It is a testament to how great an actor Tzi Ma is that he is able to deliver a performance that shows us so much, while telling us nothing. But the other actors aren’t up to his level – and for the most part, it isn’t their fault. There just isn’t much to play on the page. I do want to see what Yang does next – he is clearly a talented guy, and if nothing else, Tigertail shows he can work outside of the familiar confines of comedy. But this movie really needed to dig deeper – and unfortunately, I think it’s mostly surface here.