Directed by Wayne Wang • 1982 • United States
Starring Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi, Laureen Chew
A mystery man, a murder, and a wad of missing cash—in his wryly offbeat breakthrough, Wayne Wang updates the ingredients of classic film noir for the streets of contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown. When their business partner disappears with the money they had planned to use for a cab license, driver Jo (Wood Moy) and his nephew Steve (Marc Hayashi) scour the city’s back alleys, waterfronts, and Chinese restaurants to track him down. But what begins as a search for a missing man gradually turns into a far deeper and more elusive investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Chinese American identity. The first feature by an Asian American filmmaker to play widely and get mainstream critical appreciation, CHAN IS MISSING is a continuously fresh and surprising landmark of indie invention that playfully flips decades of cinematic stereotypes on their heads.
Up Next in Asian American ’80s
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They Call Me Bruce
Directed by Elliott Hong • 1982 • United States
Starring Johnny Yune, John Louie, Bill CapizziThis unabashedly goofball martial-arts spoof gave an Asian American comedian a rare chance in the spotlight. Stand-up comic Johnny Yune stars as a Korean immigrant living in California whom everyone ca...
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Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart
Directed by Wayne Wang • 1985 • United States
Starring Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor WongWayne Wang’s follow-up to his watershed indie CHAN IS MISSING is a family portrait that gracefully combines the director’s signature gentle humanism and eye for poignant detail. Offering another fresh pers...
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A Great Wall
Directed by Peter Wang • 1986 • United States, China
Starring Peter Wang, Kelvin Han Yee, Sharon IwaiThis delightful comedy was the first American feature shot in the People’s Republic of China. When San Francisco computer programmer Leo Fang (cowriter and director Peter Wang) is passed over fo...
