Review of The World of Suzie Wong (1960) by Zane U — 24 Sep 2009

This was a film that I saw in a screening period for an Asian-American cinema class and, while it was dissected to no end in the class in terms of "white knight 'rescues' girl from her heritage" and other racially-negative analysis, I very much enjoyed THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG.

It is not hard to tell that the intent of the film couldn't have been any further from the cynical readings of today that serve only to display that we have a better understanding of how to handle racial diversity today than we did almost 50 years ago.

Compared to a similar film of the era, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, SUZIE WONG gives character depth to the Asian population in a time where many popular films carved these characters out of cardboard and yellow-faced white actors.

In this regard, and even on its own merits today, I think the general message of the film is remarkably sensitive in terms of race by portraying the majority of Westerners as superficial bigots and making literally all Asian characters immensely sympathetic, even where their profession in prostitution may commonly suggest otherwise.

With extra-textual content aside, the film is solid in its own right, as it defies traditional romance and doesn't always settle for easy decisions for the characters. While the gender portrayals are ultimately more groan-inducing than the racial ones, I still found little to fault in this movie, which did nothing to overly excite me but impressed me nonetheless.