Directed By Sean Wang

Starring – Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen

The Plot – In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy, Chris (Wang) learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom (Joan Chen).

Rated R for adult language throughout, sexual material, and drug and alcohol use all involving teens.

DÌDI (弟弟) – Official Trailer [HD] – Only In Theaters July 26 (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Coming of age films are often ripe for nostalgia in the ways a character’s journey will reflect those of the audience growing up, but in ‘Didi’ that journey feels as natural and authentic as ever, with Wang’s feature length directorial debut effortlessly conjuring up documentarian feelings of realism, as a result of the emotions and reflections that he’s able to seamlessly tap into. It’s not a stretch to assume that this is all a bit autobiographical for Sean, as the conversations and attention to detail of his 2008 in the film brought more than a stirring familiarity to an age that simultaneously feels so vividly close that you could practically touch it, yet so far in the sixteen years since that have passed. Wang does include aspects like old Youtube, AOL Instant Messenger, and Myspace pages, as well as grainy cinematography, to get his point across about the rambunctiousness of being a teenager during such an age, but it’s what he’s able to uncover during those tender moments of humility and anxiety that are most compelling within the dimensions of the relaxed and easily misinterpreted aimlessness of the storytelling, where one word or response can feel cataclysmic to the shallow and selfish idealism of teenage values. This obviously crafts an overwhelming element of vulnerability for Chris, with every interaction with a girl or a new group of friends feeling tense with the eagerness of him not trying to reveal the scam artist he constantly portrays, but beyond that a refreshing originality to coming of age protagonists that the script isn’t afraid of getting its hands dirty inspiring the humanity from within him, with frequent mistakes that only further dig his hole of conflict deeper. One could assume that ‘Didi’ will have a happy ending, where Chris finds resolution in the many arcs he’s simultaneously corresponding with, but in the same manner that adolescence is a series of shifting friends and ever-changing interests, so too does the movie continuously roll with the punches of Chris’ own sporadic behavior, with an ending that might underwhelm some looking for complete redemption in the depths of the character, but one that I overwhelmingly applauded for how honest and knowledgeable it is towards the protagonist that the film is frequently following. Even beyond Chris, the film takes ample time and opportunity to look in on his tediously overwhelmed mother, with a disapproving in-law of her own making the situation with the rebellious Chris feel draining to a stoic woman constantly trying to hold the strings of this family together in her grasp. The observations towards the mother feel like the loudest example of Sean’s own appreciation to his own familial ties, and while many people will come for the craziness of a trailer heavily promoting shenanigans, it was the deep-seeded conversations between these two characters that hit me the hardest, where they’re each forced to confront the overwhelming notion that a family’s survival depends on these two coming together and opening up honesty and communication towards one another. This is where Wang finds his comfort zone, as he’s able to pull so much specificity and details in every kind of environment and photographic focus that it makes for a compelling exploration without the need to paint conflict in every single scene, and while that inevitably won’t hit for everyone, for me I always appreciate a film that can perfectly paint the mundanity and the ferocity of life, all the while transcending the fictional enveloping of the screen that conveys we’re watching real people, instead of fictional characters. In terms of tone, the film is surprisingly complex, beginning as a raunchy comedy of sorts on the same frequency of ‘Superbad’ or ‘Mid 90’s’, before eventually peeling back the layers of an emotional third act, with enough dramatic intensity to remind you of the humanity caught in the crosshairs of teenage irresponsibility. As to where the first half of the movie effectively summoned enough laughter in the carefree exhilaration of its youthful protagonist to candidly earn the title of being one of my favorite comedies of the year, the heart-heavy second half to the movie’s direction elicited an unforeseen freight train that leveled my nerves to pieces, resulting in the common denominator between its characters feeling like each of them has searched for a place of their own amongst the chaos that is known as life. For Chris, this sentiment is obvious, as he feels displaced from any group of friends whose ideals don’t match his own, but for his mother, there’s a surprising amount of depth deposited to her backstory that only further outlines the loneliness of her situation as the unworking head of this household, and it’s in that evidential displacement and loneliness that opens Chris’ eyes to the insignificance of teenage drama, attaining him no shortage of knowledge, but also a subtle character evolution that catches up to him, as a result of the life lessons that he attains in the toughest ways imaginable. These characters are given a lot of personality and dimensions as a result of the decorated performances, primarily between Izaac Wang and Joan Chen, who each gravitate with the atmosphere and people surrounding them in whatever capacity they’re asked to compliment. Before handing out singular praises to each, I love that each of these castmates can say so much without saying anything at all, as their facial registries often speak volumes to the internal struggles persisting from within in each of them, which are starting points to the monumental impacts that they respectively have on this picture. Wang certainly isn’t a rookie to cinema, but he supplants so much painful awkwardness and uncertainty in the deliveries of his responses, which not only add to the defined vulnerability that the character is earnestly expressing in uncomfortable environments, but also helps maintaining the emphasis on the character’s relatability, which audiences of all nationalities can effortlessly take reflections from. I’m also delighted to see Chen again, since I am a HUGE Twin Peaks fan, but as Chungsing, she digs to her deepest and most tender depths to pull back an understated aimlessness to balance her nurturing hand that speaks volumes to her dedication a mother, where externally she’s holding it together for her children, when internally she’s ripping apart at the seams to the fear and isolation factors of a distant husband with no sign of reunion in sight.

NEGATIVES

There truly isn’t much to balk at here, but what little problems that I did have with the film pertained to its finished draft of 88 minutes, and how that condensed certain scenes and corresponding arcs. While the entirety of the film has many unique and compelling dynamics, the one between the siblings feels a bit shortchanged when compared to the others, leaving me longing for an additional scene or prolonging of one particular scene of them in the sister’s room, which feels abruptly edited. With an additional ten minutes and maybe another scene or two, I think I could’ve gotten satisfaction and even more influence from an arc that feels valuable to the foundation of Chris’ character, but in reality contradicts that intention with a conclusion that I feel didn’t dig deep enough, especially with some of her questions during that last particular scene that started to build a connection between them that was missing for what feels like the entirety of their lives.

OVERALL
‘Didi’ is an honest and bittersweet autobiographical evoking for Sean Wang, who sets himself and his film apart from other coming of age narratives by making his protagonist a victim of his social media-driven culture, which allows Wang the freedom to exploit the web pages of yesteryear, for a healthy dose of throwback nostalgia. Between radiant performances, smoothly transitioning tonal balance, and a stripped down presentation that only further adds to the dated exploration, Wang makes everyday developments feel cinematic, conjuring not only a remarkable directorial debut for him, but also an earnest triumph that makes this one of the biggest surprises of the cinematic year.

My Grade: 9/10 or A