Tie a Yellow Ribbon 4 stars
Kim Jiang, Jane Kim, Patrick Heusinger, Ian Wen
Directed by Joy Dietrich
Shows again June 13 at 4:30 p.m.
A distraught young Korean woman wanders the streets of New York. It could be anywhere, for life is in a haze. Her current roommate has more or less kicked her out of their apartment. It’s just the latest abandonment for Jenny, who was sent away by her adoptive parents when she was 14 for a supposed indiscretion with her American brother. She is unique, and alone.
Writer-director Dietrich set out to make a film about the experience of young Asian-American women in the U.S. It’s a sullen and moody work, inspired by statistics of depression and suicide amongst the aforementioned demographic. It’s also elegant and touching.
Jenny finds a new roommate, but just as she begins to explore new relationships with the other Asian-Americans in her building, her haunted past won’t let her go. Using gorgeous location photography in tandem with an evocative soundtrack, Dietrich gives the film a lyrical quality, as we drift in and out of Jenny’s dreams. The deeper we dig, though, the more we find her fears and desires are universal. It’s a personal and unique vision, but it is no longer alone.