Shanghai Kiss
| Shanghai Kiss | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Kern Konwiser David Ren |
| Produced by | Kip Konwiser |
| Written by | David Ren |
| Starring |
Ken Leung Hayden Panettiere Kelly Hu |
| Music by | David Kitay |
| Cinematography | Alexander Buono |
| Edited by | Zene Baker |
| Distributed by | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Shanghai Kiss is a 2007 direct-to-DVD film. The film was released on DVD on October 9, 2007.Hayden Panettiere won the Feature Film Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival for her role as Adelaide.
Liam Liu (Ken Leung), a Chinese American actor dwelling in Los Angeles unwittingly gets involved with a high school girl. He suddenly has to go to China after learning from his father that he has inherited his grandmother's home in Shanghai. He's not very appreciative of his Chinese roots and at first only wants to sell the house and get back to the U.S. as fast as possible. He gets a taste of Chinese customs after meeting a girl there and ends up having some big decisions to make.
Liam Liu is auditioning for a role in a tooth-paste advertisement. He is rejected after some initial questions by the screeners because he is not considered " [East] Asian" enough. This begins our glimpse into the casting decision of Hollywood producers, who Liam believes heavily stereotype East Asian men to the point where it is difficult for them to land normal roles. Liam then takes a city bus home from the audition since his car is towed away, and there, he meets Adelaide Bourbon (Hayden Panettiere), a young, beautiful, high school student. During the ride home, Liam discovers that Adelaide has been sketching a picture of him. The two begin to converse and Adelaide sings Liam a song, whereupon they become quick friends. Liam feels guilt for becoming friends with such a young girl and Adelaide later asks Liam to go to the prom with her. He declines, and this serves as the basis for the many times that Liam feels guilty in having a budding friendship with such a young girl. His friend, Joe Silverman (Joel Moore) is one of the most vocal opponents of the "friendship", as Joe expresses his belief that no good can come out of what is developing between him and Adelaide.
During a scene early in the movie, Liam expresses his frustration in the stereotyping of East Asian men in Hollywood, since he himself is a struggling actor. Joe reminds Liam that it was Liam's decision to drop out of Columbia University to pursue a career in acting. In the "bar scene," as it is known, Joe challenges Liam to ask a Caucasian woman at the bar out. Liam rails against Joe and the woman at the bar, Georgia (Kathleen Lancaster), because she supposedly represents the superficiality and status-seeking of Hollywood and of Caucasian women in the U.S. in general. Still, Liam is attracted to Georgia and has been in several W.G.W.A.G. (White Girls With Asian Guys) relationships before in Hollywood. Nonetheless, Liam takes Joe up on this bar bet and sits down next to Georgia. In a small period of time, he is able to charm Georgia, saying that her name represents Liam's "favorite Confederate state." The two sleep together, but Liam weeps after his father calls him while the two are having sex, ostensibly because Liam, while able to have sex with the woman he chose, feels pangs of emptiness from not being connected to his folk, and instead, being lured into the image of success represented by women such as Georgia.
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