Dìdi

[Drunk Monk]

An Asian American coming of age film shot in Fremont. This won a lot of critical acclaim on the indie fest circuit. It’s mostly unknown actors except for Joan Chen, who plays the mom, and Stephanie Hsu, who has a tiny cameo as a YT kissing teacher. Set in the early years of Facebook & MySpace, it’s the tale of a young soon to be high school freshman, wannabe YT filmmaker. 

Not a lot happens. It’s a bit existential that way. Didi (which means younger brother) navigates friendships awkwardly. His dad works in Taiwan, so he lives with his mom, his ucsd bound sister and his paternal grandma, and they speak mandarin at home.

I could hardly relate to this. I’ve wondered about being a teen in the internet era and watched my daughter go through it, but it’s not our gen. We had walkmans, not smart phones. Didi’s Amerasian experience hardly mapped on to mine, except maybe the playground fight against the boy making slant eyes. Some of the dinner scenes I almost related to, but it didn’t resonate as much as I thought it might. And even after living in Fremont for over a dozen years, I barely recognized it. It was more towards the foothills where I was closer to the wetlands. 

I suppose I can imagine why critics fawned over this. There’s a cinema veritas vibe in its amateur actors and simple cinematography. Maybe those critics just wanted to Asians props. But it just wasn’t my thing.

Not D00M recommended.

Seen on peacock.

[Drunk Monk]

Forgot to mention that there’s a psychedelic scene when Didi eats a roach and has a bad trip. It was ok - low budget effects and a bit heavy handed but it’s implied that it was his first experience and there’s nothing like your first time.