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Scene Excerpts
Clip 1: Autumn Reeser as "Sylvia," a college student who hits on her favorite professor (Chris Tashima as "Raymond Ding"). Joan Chen as "Betty," a more logical love interest for Raymond. In this scene encounters both women, and one of them preempts a conversation with the other.
Clip 2: Joan Chen as "Betty" and Chris Tashima as "Raymond." This is how their first date comes to an end.
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Synopsis
Raymond Ding (Chris Tashima) is not young. He's been married before. He is the only Asian man Aurora Crane (Allison Sie) has ever kissed... and the only man she has ever loved. Three months ago, she told him she was moving out of the apartment they shared for two years. He quietly left instead.
Although Aurora is Hapa (half Asian), she moves most comfortably in the white world. So it's back to the familiar as she quickly tumbles into a new romantic involvement with Steve (Ben Shenkman) -- this time with someone her own age, someone white, someone she could bring home to meet the folks. If only she could do something about her dreams....
Raymond and Aurora still dream about each other -- sensually haunting dreams that inspire longing in their waking hours, and the fear of mishandled fate. Each night Aurora alters or removes something in the apartment in an attempt to purge Raymond from her psyche. The furniture is re-arranged on a weekly basis. And then there are the photographs and keepsakes, emotional heavyweights, finding their slow way into a box in the bedroom closet. Raymond is the only witness to this process. He visits the apartment when he knows Aurora is not home. He reads the newspaper, eats his lunch, then checks for any subtle changes. He is careful not to leave a trace, but Aurora sometimes senses his unseen presence. She knows he still has the key.
Raymond begins a new romance with a beautiful colleague, Betty Nguyen (Joan Chen). As their relationship progresses, Raymond's efforts to uncover Betty's secret past lead him to a present day secret that could change his life forever. Raymond's widowed father (Sab Shimono) plans a trip to China to find a picture bride because he doesn't want to grow old alone. Aurora's friend Brenda (Kelly Hu) rejects Asian men as lovers, seeking refuge in a series of unfulfilling sexual liaisons with non-Asian men. And Raymond and Aurora meet 'for the last time' several times.
Americanese is a penetrating anti-romance, filled with lush, dreamlike imagery and sharply realized emotions. It tells this story of two lovers perhaps meant to be together, bewildered as they hopelessly drift apart. The film invites the audience to unravel, in flashbacks, in private ruminations, and in infrequent encounters, the mystery of an Asian American love story. The meaning of Raymond and Aurora's love,and the truth behind their breakup, are revealed in its aftermath - just as scientists learn about the birth of the universe by studying the reverberation of its echo.
[click here for official movie site]Production Notes
From Independent Spirit Award-nominated director Eric Byler and the Producer of the award-winning PICTURE BRIDE and THE DEBUT, Lisa Onodera, comes an Asian American love story based on the seminal novel by Shawn Wong.
This complex love story has drawn a talented and radiant cast, including Academy-Award® winning filmmaker Chris Tashima (LANI LOA: THE PASSAGE; VISAS AND VIRTUE), Allison Sie (Red), Joan Chen (THE LAST EMPEROR; 'Twin Peaks'), Kelly Hu (X-MEN II: X-MEN UNITED; SCORPION KING), Ben Shenkman (MUST LOVE DOGS; 'Angels in America'), veteran Sab Shimono (GUNG HO; COME SEE THE PARADISE) and Michael Paul Chan (JOY LUCK CLUB; Thousand Pieces of Gold).
Shawn Wong's novel American Knees, first published in 1996, shocked and excited readers with its groundbreaking depiction of an unapologetically sexy Asian American man and three complex women. Author Gish Jen exclaimed, 'Finally we have racial issues made racy!'
Director Byler, whose first feature CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES was lauded by Roger Ebert as 'a relationship picture that plays like an emotional thriller,' has crafted a sensual and poignant screen adaptation. Byler brings forth in a dramatic and evolving fashion, all of the emotions that ordinary lovers experience in their everyday romances. This 'everyman' love story uses the Asian American community as the backdrop, portraying the parallel lives of two ex-lovers with all of the intricacies of their diverse ethnic backgrounds and heritages. Byler delicately exposes their complex emotional struggles with an extraordinary view into their ordinary lives.
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