Sunday 20 : 7:00 pm
Having just moved from Beijing, senior Tai Chi master Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) struggles to adjust to life in New York, living with his Americanized son Alex (Ye-tong Wang). Chu immediately butts heads with his put-upon white daughter-in-law, Martha (Deb Snyder), a writer who seems to blame him for her own paralyzing inability to focus. But when Chu begins teaching Tai Chi at a local school, his desire to make a meaningful connection comes to fruition in the most unexpected of ways. And not without some comic misadventures along the way!
Pushing Hands is a cross-cultural gem by the director of The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Life of Pi. Writer and director Ang Lee beautifully conveys the difficulty this ascetic Easterner has in adapting to the consumer culture of the West. The film is enhanced by its discerning look at the spiritual potencies of Tai Chi, the Chinese ethic of filial relations, and the heated complications of father-son relationships.
Come make another fine discovery of something that won’t likely show up in your bot-generated algorithms. And what better way than to to watch it on a large theatrical screen in the company of others at the luxurious Cinéma du Musée. A beautiful 16mm print will be projected, by the way.
Mathieu Li-Goyette is chief editor of the on-line magazine Panorama-cinéma and runs an Asian studies centre at Université de Montréal where he teaches history and theory of Japanese visual culture. He is presently working on a thesis dealing with desire and rhythm in comic books. Besides publishing articles in 24images, Hors Champs and Liberté, in 2010 he assembled a collection of works on humanism in post war Japan and in 2012 published a book on 100 years of Japan’s Nikkatsu film studio. He was also invited to program for Critics Week at the famed Berlin festival.
