Double Happiness

Family ghosts, generational conflict, and the immigrant experience frame this comedy-drama about a Chinese-born Canadian woman’s quest for self-definition, the debut of writer-director Mina Shum (Meditation Park). Jade Li (Sandra Oh), an aspiring actress in her early twenties, lives at home with her strict father (Stephen Chang), her dutiful mother (Alannah Ong), and her sweet younger sister, Pearl (Frances You). Their older brother, Winston, has been disowned — a fate Jade is not eager to share, both for her own sake and to spare her family pain. Therefore, although she manages to land a few bit parts on camera, Jade spends most of her time working in the shop owned by a family friend, performing the duties of a respectful daughter and suffering through arranged dates with prosperous young Chinese men. An adept cultural chameleon, though, she also leads a double life, hanging out with best friend Lisa (Claudette Carracedo) and beginning a tentative romance with Caucasian college student Mark (Callum Keith Rennie).

After premiering at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival, Double Happiness won several international awards and made its US bow at Sundance in 1995. Writer/director Mina Shum — who, like her protagonist, was born in Hong Kong but raised in Canada — appears briefly on camera as a casting director who doesn’t think Jade is Chinese enough. This was a breakthrough role for Sandra Oh, who is actually of Korean descent, and who won a best actress Genie Award for her portrayal of Jade. The part of the dad marked a departure for Stephen Chang, a frequent martial arts movie villain and real-life friend of Bruce Lee.

Q&A with writer-director Mina Shum

Shum establishes a chatty, confiding tone right at the top and follows through, like a long letter from a good friend.

Roger Ebert

Korean Canadian actress Sandra Oh lights up the screen in Mina Shum’s lively, astringent, semi-autobiographical comedy about the travails of asserting one’s independence within an ultra-conservative Asian emigre family. In Oh’s quizzical, quicksilver personality Shum has found a perfect match for her own mercurial style, and the result is a first feature of much charm and painful truths.

Kevin Thomas, LA Times

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