The story begins during the period of sweeping economic reforms in China in the 1980s. The bookish farm boy Cheng Dongqing (Huang Xiaoming, Ip Man 2), the ambitious, self-assured Meng Xiaojun (Deng Chao, The Four) and the slightly flaky, poetic Wang Yang (Tong Dawei, Lost in Beijing, Red Cliff), are three friends studying at university in Beijing and simultaneously prepping for American visa interviews. Wang is the first to be granted one but forfeits it to stay with his Western girlfriend, and Cheng is repeatedly denied one. Only Meng actually gets a study visa, and as he?s leaving he tells his friends he has no intention of returning to China.
The film then heads into standard rags to riches territory, following Cheng and Wang as they build a massively successful school, New Dream, from the ashes of Cheng?s misfortune (his girlfriend got a visa too, and Cheng lost his university teaching job for tutoring on the side) and Wang?s innate ability to connect with students, often through Hollywood movies. Across the Pacific, Meng is having little success living the America dream and is reduced to bussing tables to makes ends meet. Despondent, he goes home and joins his friends at New Dream. And as films like this go, the trio?s relationship frays, fractures and finally reforms under the weight of the men?s disparate goals and motivations. American Dreams spans almost 30 years, so while all this is happening, Chan inserts references to major moments in contemporary Chinese history into the story: Beijing?s first KFC in 1992 becomes Cheng?s first classroom; the 1999 bombing of Chinese embassy in Belgrade sees the trio forced to defend themselves against angry mob charges of being traitors for running an English (meaning American) school; New Dream really enters the competitive big leagues around the same time Beijing is awarded the Olympic Games in 2000. Conspicuous in its absence is the Tiananmen Square protests/massacre of 1989.
Chan has managed some pithy observations about the perceptions commonly held among Chinese of Americans and vice versa, but take away the revisionist history and the preaching, however, and American Dreams is simply another quasi-coming-of-age story (albeit about adults) who see their bond tested by power, money and ambition. That it is allegedly based on a true story (of the Beijing New Oriental School) doesn?t make it any more interesting; the language education industry doesn?t exactly reek of thrilling corporate espionage and there are countless equally amazing business success stories in the new China, though admittedly not one quite as widely known. And the film?s lingering whiff of propaganda adds a bit of texture to the film, but in the end it?s not didactic enough to be a (more engaging) polemic. Chan has played down almost everything.
So it comes down to how compelling Huang, Deng and Tong are and how well their dynamic carries the story. Tong fares best as the sensitive guy stuck in the middle of an increasingly hostile relationship between his friends. The moderator is often the weak link, but Tong does a respectable job of conveying frustration and weariness. Huang and Deng have less luck though. Huang?s transformation from mealy-mouthed ?loser? to board room tyrant doesn?t quite ring true, and Deng?s insecurity masked as arrogance make him shrill and demanding, not complex....
(294951-D)
American Dreams in China (2013)[DVD] (Date: 2014-12-15)
Price($):
HK$49(US$)
Publisher:EDKO Video Ltd
No of Disk: 1
Screen: 16:9
Region Code: 3
Subtitle: Chinese(Traditional), English
Audio: DTS ES 6.1,Dolby Digital EX 5.1
Languages: Mandarin
Video: NTSC
Special features: THEATRICAL TRAILER
MAKING OF
PHOTO GALLERY
American Dreams in China (2013)(China Version)[DVD] (Date: 2013-07-08)
Price($):
HK$62(US$)
Publisher:De Jin Cul Ture Propagation Limited
No of Disk: 1
Screen: 16:9
Region Code: 6
Subtitle: Chinese(Simplified)
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0,Dolby Digital 5.1,DTS ES
Video: DVD-9
Languages: Mandarin
Special features: making the stunt, deleted scenes, the pilot movie trailer, MV
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