Face (2002 film)

Face is a 2002 drama film written by Bertha Bay Sa Pan and Oren Moverman and directed by Bertha Bay-Sa Pan starring Bai Ling, Kristy Wu, Kieu Chinh, Treach, Ken Leung, Will Yun Lee, and Tina Chen.

Face
Directed byBertha Bay-Sa Pan
Produced byJonathan Shoemaker
Derrick Tseng
Written byBertha Bay-Sa Pan
Oren Moverman
StarringBai Ling
Kristy Wu
Kieu Chinh
Treach
Will Yun Lee
Ken Leung
Tina Chen
Music byLeonard Nelson Hubbard AKA Hub of The Roots
CinematographyJohn Inwood
Edited byGary Levy
Distributed byIndican Pictures
Release date
  • January 2002 (2002-01) (Sundance Film Festival).[1]
Running time
89 min
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Face premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival where it was a nominee for the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic.

Synopsis

Kim (Bai Ling) is a timid and conflicted 20 year old in the 1970’s, struggling to sort out her relationship with her traditional mother (Kieu Chinh) while forging a future for herself at college. Attempting to tread the fine line between dutiful daughter and independent woman, Kim has an unfortunate one-night stand with Daniel (Will Yun Lee), the spoiled and arrogant son of a wealthy family, and discovers that she is pregnant. Forced to marry Daniel and trapped in a nightmare marriage with a newborn infant, Kim leaves her daughter Genie to be raised by her mother.

19 years later… Genie (Kristy Wu) is a bright and independent 19 year old on the cusp of adulthood in the 1990’s, who walks successfully in two separate worlds; that of her grandmother’s traditional community in Queens and the contrasting and vibrant downtown hip hop scene in New York City. When she falls in love with Michael (Treach), an African American DJ at a local club, and her mother Kim resurfaces from Hong Kong with plans to move back to New York, these three women are forced to resolve their betrayals and family history in order to survive.

Cast

  • Bai Ling as Kim
  • Kristy Wu as Genie
  • Kieu Chinh as Mrs. Liu
  • Treach as Michael
  • Will Yun Lee as Daniel
  • Ken Leung as Willie
  • Tina Chen as Mrs. Chang
  • Melissa Martinez as Sue
  • Dee Dee Mango as Kelly
  • Les J.N. Mau as Mr. Huang
  • Diane Cheng as Mrs. Mar
  • Kristy Qin as Jenny
  • Ruth Zhang as Mrs. Huang
  • Jim Chu as Steve
  • Ben Wang as Mr. Leung
  • Susan Bigelow as Hospital Nurse
  • Paul J.Q. Lee as Husband #2
  • Tina Factor as Asian Woman

Production

Face began as an acclaimed short film by Bertha Bay-Sa Pan when she was a student at Columbia University’s Graduate Film School. The short went on to play at dozens of film festivals all over the world and was honored with the Polo Ralph Lauren Award for Best Screenplay at Columbia. The film also brought Pan the Director’s Guild Award for Best Asian American Student Filmmaker in 1997 [2]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January, 2002, in the Dramatic Competition.[3] It received a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 18, 2005. [4]

Reception

Michael Wilmington, a critic for the Chicago Tribune, praised the direction and performances writing, "[‘Face’] is realistic and highly entertaining… perceptively written, imaginatively directed [and] brilliantly acted.... Pan's three actresses give astonishingly varied, spontaneous, powerfully human, award-worthy portrayals. As a filmmaker, Pan succeeds on almost every level: generating atmosphere, weaving an engrossing tale and eliciting marvelous performances.”[5] Anita Gates selected the film as a NY Times Critic's Choice Pick.[6] Dana Stevens, a critic for The New York Times, wrote, "[Face]... is likely to remain in your head long afterward... [T]he director's attention to details of character and locale makes for a precise evocation of a New York seldom seen in feature films."[7] Another critic for The New York Times, David Edelstein, wrote of the film, "[Face]...takes a conventional culture-clash theme and gives it the kick (and hop) of a good music mix tape."[8] Kirk Honeycutt for The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Luminous… Pan's actors are exceptional… with a vibrant hip hop score and atmospheric cinematography."[9] Lisa Rose for The NJ Star Ledger wrote, "A film with visual flair, musical inspiration and dramatic gravity. From the top to the bottom of the cast list, there are performances rich in detail and intelligence." Owen Gleiberman for Entertainment Weekly wrote, "If these mild tales of domestic scandal, which make up the movie Face, sound familiar and even a bit cliché, they are just that, yet it’s a testament to the bare-bones decency displayed by director Bertha Bay-Sa Pan that we’re compelled by them anyway."[10] G. Allen Johnson for SFGate wrote, "Co-writer and first-time director Bertha Bay Sa-Pan smartly alternates between the 1970s and present day, allowing us to observe the pressures each young woman had to endure, and why each one makes the decisions they do. The cast is very good, filled with bright young talent, and John Inwood's cinematography, which helps differentiate the eras depicted, is top-notch[.]"[11] The publication TimeOut wrote of the film, "The culture clash between immigrant parents and their American-born children is familiar territory, but New Jersey–born, Taiwan-raised director and co-writer Bay-Sa Pan gives the material her own spin and elicits strong performances from her appealing cast."[12]

Accolades

Awards and Nominations

Organisation Category Recipient(s) Result
Urbanworld Film Festival, 2002 Best Director, Grand Jury Prize Bertha Bay-Sa Pan Won
Gen Art Film Festival, 2002 Best Feature, Audience Award Bertha Bay-Sa Pan Won
CineVegas International Film Festival, 2002 Grand Prix Directing Prize, Critics Award - Special Mention Bertha Bay-Sa Pan Won
Gotham Awards, 2002 Open Palm Award Bertha Bay-Sa Pan Nominated
Sundance Film Festival, 2002 Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic Bertha Bay-Sa Pan Nominated

Music

Score

The film was scored by Leonard Nelson Hubbard (aka Hub) of the Grammy Award winning hip-hop band the Roots; featuring live recordings by the internationally renowned Peking Opera Orchestra, and CHOPS of Mountain Brothers.

Soundtrack

Face: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
GenreHip hop, East Coast hip hop
LabelHi-Rise Records[13]
ProducerVarious

The soundtrack includes theme song “Face” written and performed by Naughty by Nature, original song “Just Can’t Hold On” by Tre Hardson (SlimKid3 of the hip hop pioneering group Pharcyde). Kim Hill's (formerly of the Black Eyed Peas) song "Open Wide" also features on the soundtrack.

Track listing

Face (Music From The Original Motion Picture)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Small Town Girl"David Tao 
2."I Hope U Do"Stephen Simmonds 
3."Mr. Weatherman"Adriana Evans 
4."Just Can't Hold On"SlimKid3 
5."Whyl-a-Banenee"Otherized F.A.M 
6."Commonwealth (Cheap Chicks)"Bahamadia 
7."Open Wide"Kim Hill 
8."The Light"Pharaoh Monche 
9."Bring It On Back"Othello 
10."Climb"Mos Def 
11."Monday Eve (English And Chinese Versions)"Bay Sa 
12."Waiting"Bay Sa 
13."Boulevard Star"Delinquent Habits 
14."Take My Breathe Away"Lonnie Hillyer 
15."Face"Naughty By Nature 

References

  1. https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000631/2002/1/
  2. "Bertha Bay-Sa Pan on Saving Face, and Making 'Face'". Asia Society.
  3. "Face - Sundance". sundance.org. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  4. "Face - Release Date US". IMDB. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  5. critic, Michael Wilmington, Tribune movie. "'Face' (star)(star)(star)". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  6. Gates, Anita (2006-01-22). "Movies on TV (Published 2006)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  7. Stevens, Dana (2005-03-18). "Film in Review; 'Face' (Published 2005)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  8. Edelstein, David (2005-03-20). "The Clash of China's Generations, Set to a Hip-Hop Beat (Published 2005)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  9. "Face". Indican Pictures. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  10. "Face". EW.com. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  11. Chonin, Peter Hartlaub Walter Addiego G. Allen Johnson Jonathan Curiel Neva (2004-10-15). "FILM CLIPS / Also opening today". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  12. "Face". Time Out Worldwide. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  13. "Face (Music From The Original Motion Picture)". IMDb.
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