A Great Wall

A Great Wall (1986)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Family Drama  |   Release Date - May 30, 1986 (USA)  |   Run Time - 100 min.  |   Countries - China, United States  |   MPAA Rating - PG
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

The full title of this culture-clash drama was originally The Great Wall is a Great Wall. The first American production to be shot in Red China, the film was produced and directed by Peter Wang. Wang himself stars as Leo Fang, a San Francisco computer engineer who decides to move his family to China in search of his "roots." For the first time in his life, Fang discovers what it is to be Chinese and not merely a hyphenated American, but his wife and children are not so easily assimilated into their new surroundings. Problems arise when Fang and his brood move in with their Mainland relatives, who are curious (and a little apprehensive) about Western culture. It takes a long, long time before a common ground of mutual understanding and respect is reached, and it is the children who take the first steps towards that ground.

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Keywords

ancestry, China, Chinese-American, family, fish-out-of-water, relative, roots [origins]