Free Film Screening with Discussion: Pushing Hands

The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, the Program in Film and Media Studies, and the WUSTL China Forum present a movie series showcasing works of acclaimed Taiwanese directors and their unique perspectives on Taiwanese culture and identity.

PUSHING HANDS DIRECTED BY: ANG LEE 1991 | 105 min. | Taiwan, USA | Mandarin & English w. English subtitles Format: DCP

Having just moved from Beijing, elderly 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. PUSHING HANDS is the debut film from Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, forming the first chapter in his "Father Knows Best" trilogy, which depicts the tensions between the traditional Confucian values of the older generation and the realities of modern life. Co-written by collaborator James Schamus, PUSHING HANDS was selected by the 1992 Berlin International Film Festival and won three Golden Horse Awards, paving the way for Lee's worldwide success with films such as CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.

OFFICIAL TRAILER

The seminar that follows the screening invites Professor Letty Chen and Ki Chow from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures to comment on the Taiwanese diaspora, traditional values and culture, and how they have evolved to adapt to life abroad.

Speakers:

Ki “Cora” Chow is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Washington University in St. Louis. She is the winner of the Stanley Spector Memorial Award and the 40th Hong Kong Youth Literary Award in Translation. She has translated and authored several books, including One Man One Story: A Journalistic Anthology (2010) and Caring for the Young Buds: Memoirs of Chan-Chen Shu-an (2013). Her current research focuses on the relations between trauma, affects, and melodrama in contemporary China and Hong Kong.

Lingchei Letty Chen is professor of modern Chinese language and literature at Washington University in St. Louis. She is also the Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Modern Chinese Literature, from Columbia University. Published works include Writing Chinese: Reshaping Chinese Cultural Identity, The Great Leap Backward: Forgetting and Representing the Mao Years, and Sights and Sounds of the Cold War in Socialist China.

Supported by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Taiwan.

Registration is only required for online participation in either the screening or the seminar.

Free and open to the public.