Tigertail (2020)

"Tigertail" is one of the better films I've seen lately. A moving yet quiet film that offers viewers a look inside immigrant life. . In this drama, a Taiwanese factory worker leaves his homeland to seek opportunity in America, where he struggles to find connection while balancing family and newfound responsibilities. . I found this film to be more compelling and resonant than 2019's "The Farewell". "Tigertail" had my full attention from the start until the very bittersweet end. You get to see a completely other side of writer/director Alan Yang ("Master Of None") and he leaves filmmaker imprints as he goes along. The performances in this film are great as well; the iconic Tzi Ma ("The Farewell", "Arrival") really gets to show off his acting chops here playing a quiet but struggling man. You feel his pain and conflict throughout. I didn't think I'd enjoy "Tigertail" as much as I did and I think you should definitely stream it on Netflix. . Follow @snobmedia for more reviews!

Fmovies: Tiger Tail is a slow, poignant movie. It's a representation of the immigrants from Taiwan to the US around 70s. What they thought America was, how they longed to come to America, yet only to find it is nothing like their imagination. How they worked so hard in the US, and yet lost the ability to communicate well with their family. I like the depiction of the relationship of Angela and her father. The conversations are great. I like the ending.

First of all, I'm really appreciated for the filmmaker's effort and his ambition to describe a story of a Taiwanese immigrant, and I am surprised that this film came to Taiwan trying to depict a full picture to audience. However, as a Taiwanese, especially a Taiwanese from mid area of Taiwan (just exactly like the ex-wife that followed her man to the United States), I need to point out some, or let's say, a lot of ridiculous mistakes that a Taiwanese would feel uneasy when seeing this film.

1. In mid and south part of Taiwan, we use Taiwanese as a family language, not Mandarin. So when I saw the main character replying his mother with Mandarin, it feels awkward. Not to mention that his wife! How come a girl growing up in Wunlin speaks Mandarin with a perfect Beijing accent? It is really insulting for a Taiwanese audience.

2. This is not a story for a traditional Taiwanese. It is a story more suitable for a Wuai-Shen man or mainlander (means people followed KMT government to Taiwan after 1945). My family is a traditional Taiwanese family. My father had never went to pub in his 20s, nor had he lived in such a Mainlander style house.

3. The town Tigertail is in Wunlin. If you ask any Taiwanese from Wunlin, they would never tell you that Wunlin is in mid area in Taiwan. But the director's family moved to the United States many years ago. It is an allowable mistake.

Overall, I am thankful that the director is willing to tell a story of Taiwanese. However, as a Taiwanese studying Taiwanese films, I strongly suggest the director pay much more attention not only on Hou Hsiao-Hsien or Edward Yang, but also those brilliant Taiwanese filmmakers like Hsu Pu-Liao, our comic icon in Taiwan.

Tigertail fmovies. I watched this on Netflix, and the premise was very interesting. A man leaves the love of his love in Taiwan for the chance of immigrating to America with his boss's daughter, and he decides to seek the love he left behind as an old man as well as get along with his estranged daughter.

Though the narrative was interesting, well, I felt that the film could've done more with the characters, esp. Yuan, who is played by veteran actress Joan Chen. I think she should've had more screen time given her acting prowess, and perhaps this could've been a limited series. Maybe I'm insisting on what the movie should've been instead of accepting what it was, but by the time it ended, I was sorta left hanging.

Still, this type of tale should be told more often. As the parents of Asian immigrants myself, it struck a chord with me.

A touching father daughter relationship at the core of it. A bit of a downer but it redeemed itself with a heartfelt ending

A movie about people from Taiwan who came to US after they are in their twenties, however, the cast was picked of actors mostly from mainland China and USA. Watching them speaking mandarin as Taiwanese with strong mainland accent; or speaking perfect native English as an aged Taiwanese is just unreal. The director should simply hire Taiwanese cast to shoot the film.