Review of Siao Yu (1995) by Julia L — 07 Oct 2009

A quiet film with some very tender moments that suffers from some uneven acting and jarring incongruities. The lead actors, Rene Liu as Siao Yu, and Daniel Travanti as Mario were excellent and made this viewer believe in the marriage of convenience that was arranged to clear up Mario's gambling debts and provide Siao Yu with a green card.

But some of the supporting cast (specifically the Italian crowd) delivered their lines as if they were desperate to get them said before they forgot them and had to start over. One's heart was drawn to the character of Siao Yu and her sacrifices to make the scheme work, and one always wondered if her paramour was worth her efforts.

Gratitude is not a part of the Chinese culture if his attitude is any indication. Mostly shot in interiors, the cinematography is necessarily tight, the young actress is very beautiful, and the story was compelling.

One only wishes there had been more budget allocated to engaging a more talented supporting cast. The subtitles were annoying and unnecessary during the English spoken dialog, but were either on or off, a minor quibble.