Course:ASIA325/2023/Song of the Exile: Exploring Cultural Identity through the Narrative of Diasporic Female

Ann Hui's Film, Song of the Exile

Group Members' Contributions

(Manger) X H：2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.3, 5.4, 6.1.2, 6.2.2, 7.2, 9

(Reflector) E Z: 2.2, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1.1, 6.2.1, 7.1, 7.2, 8, 9

(Recorder) A W：2, 2.2, 3.1, 3.3, 4.1, 5.2, 6.1.3, 6.2.3, 7.1, 8, 9

(Questioner) R L: 2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.4, 5.3, 6.1.4, 6.2.4, 7.2, 9

Introduction

Song of the Exile is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Ann Hui, inspired by her personal experiences with her Japanese mother. It was a joint production between Taiwan and Hong Kong, featuring Maggie Cheung as Hueyin and Hisao-Fen Lu as Aiko. The movie premiered in Hong Kong in 1990 and received numerous accolades, including the Best Film Award at the 35th Asia Pacific Film Festival and the Best Original Screenplay award at the 27th Golden Horse Awards.

Synopsis

Song of the Exile

After World War II, the protagonist Hueyin's Japanese mother Aiko married her Chinese father. Due to the language barrier, Hueyin and her mother experienced cultural and communication obstacles since she was born. As an adult, Hueyin returned to her mother's side due to her sister's marriage and immigration. The relationship between the two was tense and awkward, though Hueyin still took the initiative to accompany her mother back to Japan. During their stay in Japan, Hueyin experienced a transition in identity from being a part of the mainstream to a part of the marginalized minority, which enabled her to gain a deeper understanding of her mother's experiences and resonate with her feelings that have been neglected throughout the years. At the end of their trip to Japan, a pivotal point of the two's relationship comes creepingly .

Roadmap

Firstly, we begin with telling Ann Hui's early story, the geopolitical and cultural influences she had, the purpose of creating this film, and the difficulties and reflections during the filmmaking process. Secondly, we examine the public reception of the film within different cultural groups at different times (1990-2021), the impact and mass reflection of historical events on cultivation of personal cultural identity. Thirdly, we explore literature reviews on the themes of the female narrative perspective, the complex relationship between diasporas and homelands, and the seeking for cultural identity. Then, we analyze the screen tones (lighting and color), narrative methods, background music, and parallel scenes that serve different roles in both films. Finally, we challenge Patricia Brett Erens' claim by analyzing the two films' intuitive plotlines.

Stories Behind the Film

"The Restlessness of People's Migration Means that People are Forced by the Environment to Suffer from Rootlessness." – Ka Luo

Ann Hui's Interview

In Ann Hui's early films, we can see a lot of anxiety and a sense of drifting. Ann Hui was born in Anshan in 1947. Her father was a clerk for the Kuomintang, and when she was two months old, her family moved to Macau. In the film, some clips show protagonist Hueyin's memory of childhood in Macau, which not only because Ann Hui lived in Macau when she was a child but also because Macau kept most historic buildings without replacing them with modern constructions. Therefore, Macau was a popular shooting location for Hong Kong directors who wanted to show old-time views.

When she was five years old, she moved to Hong Kong and lived in North Point, which was the northernmost part of Hong Kong Island. The North Point used to be a leftist gathering place in Hong Kong, and new immigrants were more concentrated there. In North Point, many diasporic women including Ann Hui's mother lived together and as a child, she couldn't understand her mother's pain.  

When talking about her childhood, she said, "everyone said she was from Northeast China, and I always thought she couldn't speak Cantonese and didn't go to school. At the time, I thought my mother was a bit strange. She was very silent and almost mute. Later she spoke Cantonese which was not quite authentic, and they said it was because she was from Northeast China. At that time, I didn't understand Mandarin, so I thought it was true. She didn't understand Chinese characters very well either, so I thought she hadn't studied much."

The Goal of Filming Song of the Exile

As shown in the movie, after completing her film studies in the UK, Ann Hui went back home since her sister got married. She declined a good job interview opportunity and returned to Hong Kong to attend her sister's wedding. After the wedding, her mother wanted to return to Japan for a while to deal with her homesickness. Although she mentioned in interviews the significant generational and cultural differences between herself and her mother, and how her mother was very conservative and concerned with saving face, she still took her mother to Japan to see her uncle. While passing by a field, she had the idea that one day she would make a film based on her mother's experiences to explore themes of rural life, homesickness, identity change, and the emotions that foreign residents may experience when returning to their hometown.

In addition, she also stated that in 1970s London, many Chinese people never left Chinatown and spent their days playing mahjong in restaurants, constantly missing their homeland. Therefore, in her film Song of the Exile, Ann Hui adopts a satirical attitude towards the sentimental attachment that immigrants have for their homeland. She believes that it is a negative emotion of escaping reality if a person goes abroad but still clings to their homeland and refuses to embrace new experiences. Ann Hui believes that people can still do many things for their homeland without letting it interfere with their personal and family life. People should avoid allowing the concept of their homeland to cause disruptions in their own lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Behind the Awards: Ann Hui on the Struggles of Her Acclaimed Film

Best Original Screenplay at the 27th Golden Horse Awards

Despite winning two awards, Best Film Awards at the 35th Asia Pacific Film Festival and Best Original Screenplay at the 27th Golden Horse Awards, the director, Ann Hui, acknowledged that the film had several issues. These included outdated editing that failed to establish a consistent rhythm and tone, rough cinematography with an inconsistent style, and poor character design, particularly for the roles played by actresses Maggie Cheung and Lu Hsiao-fen who did not meet the director's expectations. Especially Lu Hsiao-fen struggled in her scenes at the airport and train station. Hui attributed these issues to her own shortcomings as a director and her failure to effectively communicate with the actors to help them understand their characters' emotions and development. Hui reflected on her lack of guidance for passive actors like Lu, stating that she needed to provide more direction and communication. Despite her efforts to arrange meetings with the actors to discuss their characters, she often found herself unsure of what to say and struggled to convey her ideas effectively.

Challenging Utilitarianism with Realistic Stories

As a second-generation immigrant, in the film Song of the Exile directed by Ann Hui, there is a scene where the granddaughter recites the poem Wuyi Xiang in the twilight. Afterward, her grandfather holds her and sighs, "learning helps us remember our roots, and good doctors and fortune tellers serve their communities." These two lines of dialogue appear to encapsulate Ann Hui's artistic vision and the regional influences towards her. In the 1990s, as one of the directors in the film industry without utilitarian motives, Ann Hui believed that it would be difficult for her to make further breakthroughs. One reason was that she was unwilling to leave Hong Kong and try to make commercial blockbusters, and another reason was that she did not consider herself a creative person. She has always believed that the expression of the original work should take precedence over her personal interpretation. Therefore, what she presents is usually a distinct interpretation, rather than a rehashing of the text.

Histories of the Film's Reception

The Transition of Film Comments: From A Counter-cultural Film to An Academic Topic

Song of the Exile was released in 1990 during the second new wave of Hong Kong cinema. At that time, a large number of independent production companies embraced the outstanding directors of the Hong Kong New Wave, giving these directors more opportunities to make films, but at the same time both companies and directors lack sufficient financial conditions, so directors had to consider the investment and profits, which motivates their priority of box office and production of films to cater audiences' tastes. As a result, 1990 became the heyday of Hong Kong commercial films and Song of the Exile was counter-cultural to the entertainment-oriented mainstream. As famous Hong Kong filmmaker Wang Jing said, Song of the Exile was popular among mainland audiences but it did not perform well at the box office in Hong Kong. He did not have high expectations for the film and expressed his skepticism directly, "who would be interested in reading an autobiography of a fat woman?"

Ann Hui at the Movie Set

Since 1999, the film has started to gain positive reviews especially among Asian scholars because of its thoughtful discussions across different areas. In 1999, the relationship between Hueyin and her mother in the film became a research topic for scholars. Lin Suying from National Taiwan University studied Song of the Exile from a psychoanalytic perspective and suggested that the depiction of Aiko and Hueyin's relationship conforms to Freud's preoedipal mother-child relations, object-relations theory and Nancy Chodorow's theory of mothering reproduction.

In 2019, an article by researcher Mao Jian from Beijing Film Academy focuses on the Chinese name of Song of the Exile (Ke Tu Qiu Hen). The Chinese name of the film comes from a well-known Nan Yin (a traditional Chinese music type from southern China) which appears several times in the movie. In the Nan Yin, Ke Tu Qiu Hen is a story between a scholar and a prostitute during wartime. Mao Jian appraised Ann Hui's film style and argued Ann Hui deepens the meaning of Ke Tu Qiu Hen by her political and historical reconstruction in the film.

In 2021, a college student Hao Shijia's article was published in Yibin College Newspaper and her comment on the movie focused on the film's expression of the sentiment of "searching for roots while being away from home". She was impressed by the nostalgic feelings in the movie and discussed the identity-seeking emotions by analyzing Hueyin's childhood experiences and relationship with her mother.

The public receptions above at different times indicate the transition of people's comment perspectives. When Song of the Exile was just released, its public reception was influenced by the mainstream genre films and did not get much attention from Hong Kong audiences. However, in the next decades, the depiction of the mother-daughter relationship, the reconstruction of the historical term and the nostalgic emotion in the film were noticed and studied by audiences.

A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Identity and Family Resonates with Viewers Across Borders and Time

Song of the Exile is a 1990 film directed by Ann Hui that delves into complex themes of cultural identity, family ties, and historical trauma. In academic circles, the film is regarded as an exemplary illustration of the intersection between border crossing, gendered modernity, genre transformation, and exilic cinema, as noted by Ackbar Abbas. While the film was generally well-received by critics and audiences, opinions were divided regarding its approach to the historical context in which it is set.

Some critics, such as Patricia Brett Erens, laud the film for its exploration of cultural identity struggles faced by many people in Hong Kong. Erens writes in Cinema Journal that the film "utilizes Cantonese, English, Japanese, and Mandarin dialogue" to construct an ever-changing identity, which reflects the tension between different temporalities in the story. Andrew Heskins, in his review for easternkicks, praises the film as an "exemplary study of strained family relationships," noting its ability to work on multiple levels. The film's nuanced portrayal of identity, cross-cultural communication, and female relationships was also highly acclaimed. However, other critics have expressed reservations about the film's sentimentalism and perceived lack of engagement with the political realities of the time. These critics argue that the film "distracts attention from more dynamic relationships between local cultures and the forces of a Global Capitalism."

Despite these criticisms, Song of the Exile resonated with a wide audience, with its focus on family relationships and cultural identity struggles resonating deeply with many viewers. The film's polyglot verbal text, which uses Cantonese, English, Japanese, and Mandarin, allowed audiences from various regions to experience familiar and unfamiliar tongues, constantly immersing them in the protagonist's world. The tension between the film's historical setting and the time of its release further contributed to its reception. Song of the Exile is a powerful and poignant exploration of identity, family, and cultural heritage. The film captures the complexity and nuances of the human experience, reminding us that even in times of great upheaval, love and connection can endure. The film's ability to resonate with viewers from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds is a testament to its enduring appeal.

Identity Loss in Historical Currents

Song of the Exile provides a historical perspective on the relationships between China, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom through the changing relationship between Hueyin and her mother. 1990 was a unique period, and the themes of cross-cultural alienation, interracial marriage, intergenerational negotiation and reconciliation, and divided loyalty expressed in the work resonate with Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

Reconciliation

As 1997 approached, despite more than half of Hong Kong's population holding British citizenship, they did not have the right to reside in the UK, and could only visit though immigration was difficult. Hueyin's disappointment with the UK in Song of the Exile may correspond to the sense of frustration and helplessness felt by Hong Kong people who felt betrayed by the UK in the late 1980s, while also responding to the tense political and social atmosphere of the late 1980s to 1990s colonialism.

The UK, Japan, and China all rejected Hueyin, her mother, and her grandfather, and Hong Kong, referred to as the "guest road," eventually became the "return road." The film aims to show Hueyin's pursuit of Hong Kong's identity in the triangular relationship between the colonizer, the homeland, and the self. From a historical background, Hong Kong became the "negotiating home" as people like Hueyin, both expressing the sadness of losing their homeland and the confusion of identity positioning.

Unveiling Hong Kong's Cultural and Political History through Song of the Exile

The story of Song of the Exile appears to be a personal journey of a Hong Kong woman searching for her family's history, but behind it lies the cultural and political history of Hong Kong. Hueyin's family background is quite diverse. Her father is a Kuomintang member during the anti-Japanese War, while her mother is a Japanese resident of the puppet state of Manchukuo. Her grandparents lives in Hong Kong but has a strong desire to return to the mainland. Hueyin is born in mainland China but spends her childhood in Macau before growing up in Hong Kong and later studying in the UK. Her younger sister moved to Canada after getting married, leaving their mother alone in Hong Kong. The three generations of their family have experienced World War II, the Cultural Revolution, the exodus of refugees, the economic boom in Hong Kong, the colonial period of Macau, and the wave of emigration overseas that began in the 1970s.

The life trajectories and fates of each character in the film reflect a glimpse of Hong Kong's modern development history. In the intersection of various identities and cultures, the complexity and diversity of Hong Kong's historical and cultural identity are revealed, as well as the subtleties and ambiguities of the "in-betweenness" of Hong Kong's identity. This exploration of identity and cultural identity in the film corresponds to the "localism" in Hong Kong - that Hong Kong people should establish a clear identity based on their local roots.

Scholarly Literature Review

Exploring Ann Hui's Marginalized Mainstream through the Lens of Song of the Exile

In Mirana M. Szeto's Ann Hui at the Margin of Mainstream Hong Kong Cinema, She offers an examination of the work of Hong Kong's esteemed female director, Ann Hui, and her place in mainstream cinema. The author posits that Hui's ability to satisfy both mainstream audiences and critics, without being confined to a fixed theme or genre, has contributed significantly to her success. Hui's films, which often focus on ordinary people and marginalized social groups, diverge from global blockbusters and universal film genres. Nonetheless, her cinematic language and directorial charisma have enabled her to survive in the mainstream of global film festivals.

The author further questions the criteria for evaluating Hong Kong cinema, arguing that it should transcend the 1997 factor and colonialist ideology. The author emphasizes that Hui's filmography is not only profoundly intellectual and technical but also unique in its contribution to the representation of Hong Kong society and culture. Hui's filmography pays particular attention to those excluded from mainstream culture and seeks to present a paradoxical and uncanny strangeness that expresses the dynamics of mysterious relationships within mainstream Hong Kong culture.

The film Song of the Exile, which the article critiques, portrays the experience of exile and the pain of the mother-daughter relationship through the daughter's experience in her mother's old home in Japan. The article highlights how the film reinterprets the daughter's cultural alienation in Japan and the mother's experience in Macau through creative flashbacks. The author argues that the film attempts to reconcile the limited psychoanalytical perspective of the mother-daughter relationship by breaking it. The film re-invests itself in the typical racial and colonial context, presenting a visual image of time that makes possible an intuitive human experience.

Moreover, the paper delves into how the themes of maternal fear and colonialism in the film Song of the Exile underpin Hui's overarching theme of marginalization. Maternal fears become women's desire for self-independence and freedom, while their mothers become symbols of their constraint. This notes that the film's female fears are an internalization of colonialism's cultural arrogance towards middle-class Chinese housewives.

In conclusion, the article explores how the film reveals these themes and the ways in which the film reflects Hong Kong society and culture. Hui's cinematic art is full of the poetry of everyday life, showcasing her understanding and exploration of local culture. Her filmmaking is replete with humility, calmness, curiosity, and wisdom, as she nurtures new work and seeks new challenges.

Reflection of Female-perspective History in Ann Hui's Film Transformation

In the article Women on the Edges of Hong Kong Modernity: The Films of Ann Hui by Elaine Yee-lin Ho, she demonstrates Ann Hui's different interpretations of modernity in Hong Kong and the changes in her portrayal of female characters in her early, middle, and recent film works. According to Ho, different from Ann Hui's early film works which are influenced by bourgeois ideas during the Hong Kong New Wave and depicted female characters in a traditional way without paying much attention to gender inequality or female social status, Ann Hui's recent films break the limit of patriarchy and conveys her concerns on females' voice, which is an important transformation in her filmmaking. Ho mentioned Song of the Exile as a representative film for this transformation, and she suggested that this film narrates Chinese history from a female perspective and indicates how females find their identity when they face "paradoxes of memory" and deal with their individual memory and others' memory at the same time.

At the beginning of the film, Hueyin left the UK for Hong Kong for her younger sister's wedding. Hueyin and her mother Aiko did not get along well with each other, and Hueyin always felt Aiko was indifferent to her, so after her sister left, she and Aiko stayed together without any sense of "home". However, later in the movie, when Aiko took Hueyin to her hometown in Japan, the unfamiliar environment made Hueyin realize Aiko's feelings as an outsider in Hong Kong and how she was marginalized in the post-war Chinese society as a Japanese. Eventually, the alienation between Hueyin and Aiko is eliminated and they both gain a sense of belonging when they return to Hong Kong. As Ho argued, through Aiko's unfolding memory of history and Hueyin's attitude change, these two female narrations reflect Hong Kong's early modern society and imply Ann Hui's positive attitude of female power "in a reaffirmation of the enduring bonds of family and community". Therefore, Song of the Exile and its depiction of Hueyin and Aiko's relationship shows Ann Hui's film style transition and her concern of female individuals' experiences and choices when they confront dynamic social situations and complex history memories.

Intricate Relationship Between Diasporas and Homelands

In Audrey Yue's first chapter of Song of the Exile focuses on the origins of the term "diaspora" and how it has become a significant theme in Ann Hui's work. The author delves into the linguistic origins of the term “diaspora” and its implications for concepts such as migration, displacement, mobility, and hybridity. Additionally, the author analyzes how Ann Hui's oeuvre incorporates and emphasizes the theme of diaspora.

In the analysis of how different homelands are represented in the films, including Britain, China, and Japan, the author examines the diaspora's complex relationship with their homeland. Specifically, the author argues that the scenes of Hueyin's life in Britain reflect the heightened panic felt by Hong Kong society at the time of the film's release in 1990, due to the upcoming handover in 1997. The author suggests that Hueyin's experiences of institutional discrimination and bias as an immigrant in Britain reflect the postcolonial relationship between Britain and Hong Kong and contends that Hueyin's return to Guangzhou to visit her ill grandfather, where she struggles to fit in, represents a state of liminality in postcoloniality and highlights the impossibility of truly returning to one's original homeland. The scenes in London depict a hopeful and vibrant atmosphere, which sharply contrasts with the discrimination and isolation Hueyin experienced. While riding bikes and eating Chinese dumplings with friends on the streets of London, she received a rejection letter from the BBC while a white girl next to her was successfully selected for the candidate list. At a nightclub full of people partying, she sat alone while others happily queued for drinks. In the dormitory hallway, she sat alone in an empty room. These scenes highlight Hueyin's status as an outsider from Hong Kong and reveal the postcolonial relationships between the UK, China, and Hong Kong.

Furthermore, the author argues that Chinese nationalism is embodied and expressed differently by the protagonists. The grandfather represents a form of nationalist nationalism, while the grandmother perpetuates Confucian patriarchy through the subordination of housework and the use of violence against the young and foreign who disobey her. In contrast, Hueyin and Aiko represent two different discourses of Hong Kong Chinese nationalism.

According to the author, Japan is introduced in the latter part of the film, and the scenes of Aiko returning to Japan demonstrate how the comfort of home creates Aiko's Japanese identity in two ways. Firstly, the similarity of social practices and the collective recognition that warmly accepts her as one of their own. Secondly, the self-construction of personal identity through mother tongue, name, and heritage. As a result, the use of language allows Aiko to construct both the similarities and differences of her exile identity. Furthermore, the plot of Hueyin feeling isolated in Japan highlights how language can contribute to the construction of a person's identity.

A Journey to the Past

In the article Crossing Borders: Time, Memory, and the Construction of Identity in Song of the Exile, Patricia Brett Erens argues that Ann Hui's film explores the combination of personal and political information, depicting universal anxieties and contradictions during Hong Kong's return to China. From a perspective of female autobiography and diasporic literature, the author points out that the core method of exploring personal and political identity in the film is to return to the past, find answers to the present, and achieve reassessment and healing. Song of the Exile portrays various forms of investigation to obtain a sense of identity, including ethnic, cultural, and personal forms. Throughout the film, the female protagonist and her mother delve into their own histories, with the eventual results of their search having a profound impact on their choices. Additionally, the film investigates the relationship between Chinese people worldwide and the mainland of China.

In the film, the female protagonist, Hueyin, lives and studies in London. However, due to the differences in language and culture between her and English native speakers, she feels like a stranger in the foreign land, and can therefore be seen as an exile. When she returns to Hong Kong, her way of interacting and communicating with her mother and sister further highlights the cultural differences between them. While in Japan, Hueyin feels a distance between her own life circumstances and the one that originally belonged to her mother, leading her to be caught in a dilemma. With half Japanese blood, having lived with her grandparents in Macau, and then pursuing further studies in the UK, her identity is shaped by constantly changing geographical and familial circumstances, resulting in her being in a state of confusion about her self-identity.

The author illustrates that the film, Song of the Exile, provides a means of resolving the confusion surrounding personal identity by looking to the past, both geographically and spiritually, for answers. In the case of the protagonist Hueyin, her sense of estrangement from her mother stems from her reluctance to acknowledge her emotional dependence on her. The rejection of Hueyin's mother by her grandparents holds both political and personal significance, suggesting a lack of unity among people from mainland China, Japan, and Hong Kong. Consequently, Hueyin distances herself from her mother's ethnic heritage and denies her own cultural roots. The author claims that Hueyin's mother constantly feels excluded and lonely because of her different ethnic background and culture from the majority of the members in the family. During her adolescence, Hueyin struggled to establish a close relationship with her mother due to cultural and ethnic differences, as her mother's Japanese background conflicted with Chinese culture. She was also unwilling to acknowledge the challenges her mother faced while living with the family.

Hueyin's experiences are representative of many Hong Kong people who face a similar struggle to reconcile their conflicting emotions about Hong Kong's shared traditions and its future alliance with mainland China. The film portrays Hueyin's attachment to Hong Kong's way of life and her strong bond with her grandparents. She is more receptive to the Chinese culture and values taught by her grandfather and, therefore, more resistant to acknowledging her Japanese heritage.

Comparative Analysis

The Joy Luck Club is an American film directed by Wayne Wang a Hong-Kong born American director. Adapted from the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, this film touches upon the mother-daughter relationship within the four Chinese American families by portraying their past struggles and to help their next generations to face current challenges.

Differences

Difference 1: Different Screen Tones Used When Presenting Memories

D1. Hueyin's Childhood with Her Grandparents

In both films, the two daughters' recollective scenes differ greatly in their presentation through differences in the use of color and lighting. In the Song of the Exile (00:11:30-00:17:09), Hueyin's flashbacks to her days living with her grandparents as she remembers her childhood are depicted in stark, unsaturated, soft-focus colors that look old and dated, highlighting the estrangement in her mind of her childhood and the cultural disconnection from her roots.

D1. June's Childhood Piano Lessons

In the Joy Luck Club (00:07:51-00:09:05), the use of color and lighting is similarly employed to represent the contrast between the characters' American and Chinese identities. For example, in the scene where the character June plays the piano, the warm lighting and soft colors evoke a sense of comfort and familiarity, the memories are clear and modern, not very different from the colors she has grown up with, which gives a sense of complete intimacy and suggests that her childhood is vividly remembered.

Difference 2: Different Narratives When Unfolding the Stories of the Characters

D2. June's Joyful Time with Her Aunts

In the Joy Luck Club (00:05:15-00:07:10), the protagonist June explains the reason for the gathering of four families and the underlying cause - the death of her mother through a voice-over at the beginning of the movie. In this scene, June replaces her mother and plays mahjong with three close aunts, while her voice-over introduces the friendship between her mother and the three aunts, and the significance of the Joy Luck Club established by her mother. Despite her mother's death, June remembers her mother's gentle image and strengths more clearly, and her mother's friends continue to take care of her. When they get together, they try to forget the past misfortunes and share interesting stories, bringing more happiness.

D2. Hueyin's Answer to the Phone Call

In the beginning of the film Song of the Exile (00:04:10-00:06:50), the protagonist Hueyin narrates in the first person the events and decisions she made before returning home from the UK. According to her conversations with her British friends, she was offered a job at a famous British TV station but had to return home because her sister was getting married. Through her communication with her mother, we can sense the lack of warmth and differences in opinions between mother and daughter, leading to Hueyin's reluctance and helplessness. The telephone conversation also suggests that her meeting with her mother is likely to be unpleasant.

D3. Heart-to-heart Conversation in the Barber Shop

Different 3: Different Roles of A Common Plot

The common plot of going to the barber to change hairstyle plays different roles in  the mother-daughter relationship in the two films. In the Joy Luck Club (00:46:54-00:48:37), Waverly and her mother's conflict erupt and then be resolved, and the plot in the barber shop serves as a turning point in their relationship as they pour out their heart and reconcile. When they argue about the hairstyle, Waverly bursts into tears and complains about how Lindo's attitude hurt her: She always tries her best to please her, but Lindo never approves of her, even about her marriage. Lindo explains that she never disagrees with Waverly's marriage and says Waverly makes her happy. They hug each other and laugh, and Lindo changes her hairstyle as Waverly wants, which is a symbol of her support for Waverly.

D3. Quarrels in the Barber Shop

Different from the Joy Luck Club, the scene at the barber shop in Song of the Exile (00:17:10-00:18:30) occurs after Hueyin returns to Hong Kong from the UK for her younger sister's wedding, and serves as a foreshadowing of the tension between Hueyin and Aiko. Aiko asks Hueyin to curl her hair to make them look similar at the wedding so that everyone knows they are family. Aiko quickly becomes angry when Hueyin refuses to have the same hairstyle as her, and she keeps saying Hueyin does not consider her as a family member. Hueyin eventually compromises after a quarrel with Aiko. This scene early in the film implies the conflict between Hueyin and Aiko, leaving the audience wondering how they will resolve their differences later in the movie.

D4. Hueyin Reminiscing about the Past

Difference 4: Different Emotions Conveyed through the Endings

Both the Song of the Exile and the Joy Luck Club deal with themes of diasporic displacement and nostalgia, but their endings convey distinct emotions and messages through the use of cinematography and sound.

In Song of the Exile (01:26:00-01:34:12), the film ends with the plot when Hueyin returns to China and accompanies her grandfather until the end of his life. However, the ending is not a happy one, as grandpa struggles with illness, is troubled by his ignorant grandson, and faces death. The shot then transitions to a memory of Hueyin's childhood spent with her grandparents in the garden, accompanied by the song Ke Tu Qiu Hen playing in the background. This creates a sentimental feeling that the good old days cannot be returned to.

D4. The Happy Reunion

In the Luck Joy Club (02:11:05-02:15:12), however, we have a very romanticized and idealist ending. June returns to China and meets her twin sisters, whom she had never lived with before. Her sisters watch her return from afar with tears in their eyes. June tells them about their mother's passing, and they quickly recognize her as family despite never having met before. This dramatic turn of events and abrupt ending make the film's happy ending seem too good to be true, casting doubt on its authenticity.

Similarities

S.1 Hueyin Playing by the Lotus Pond

Similarity 1: the Use of Music

Both the Song of the Exile and the Joy Luck Club use music as a motif to evoke a sense of cultural identity and connection to the past in different ways.

In the Song of the Exile (01:31:02-01:31:42), music is used to connect the protagonist Cheung Hueyin to her childhood and her cultural heritage. Throughout the film, Cheung Hueyin frequently sings Cantonese folk songs and other Chinese songs that she learned as a child. By singing these songs, she is able to reconnect with her past and evoke a sense of nostalgia for her homeland. For example, in one scene, she is visiting her grandfather when she remembers playing by the lotus pond as a child, and the music in the background is the kind of folk ditty that evokes memories of her childhood. The use of music in this film is primarily a personal and introspective device that helps the protagonist reconnect with her cultural identity and the memories of her childhood.

In the Joy Luck Club (00:07:51-00:09:05), music is used to connect the mothers and daughters and pass down cultural heritage from one generation to the next. Each of the mothers in the film has a specific piece of music that is associated with her cultural heritage and her relationship with her daughter. For example, Lindo's mother sings a lullaby to her in Chinese, which Lindo later sings to her own daughter. Similarly, Ying-ying's daughter Lena plays a piece of music on the piano that was taught to her by her grandmother. In this way, music becomes a tool for cultural transmission and a way for the mothers and daughters to connect across generations and cultural divides.

Similarity 2：Nonlinear Narratives

S2. Two women watching June's Piano Contest

Prompted by external factors, the two protagonists begin to independently recall the past and miss their mothers or their expectations when they were young. At this time, the film uses the narration technique of non-linear narrative to bring the audience to the life scene of the hero when he was a child. In the movie the Joy Luck Club (00:07:50-00:13:20), the protagonist June plays mahjong with her mother's friends, and an aunt mentions that she should take the piano with her. Looking at the piano, she recalls that when she was a child, her mother forced June to practice playing the piano because of the comparison and the deep-rooted Chinese culture and wanted June to become what she wanted.

S2. Aiko Sewing Alone

In the movie Song of the Exile (00:10:55-00:16:55), Hueyin remembers her mother as a child when her younger sister says, "you don't really know our mother very well." Hueyin's mother was always excluded by her grandparents due to her language barrier and Japanese ancestry. Her mother rarely talked to her or spent much time with her. Her mother was always indifferent and inconsiderate. From this, we can see that the Hueyin's mother in the two movies has some negative images in their memory, which also hints at the different modes of the two people getting along with their mothers when they grow up.

Similarity 3: Demonstration of Cross-cultural Mother-daughter Relationships

S3. The Misunderstanding between Lindo and her Daughter

Similarly, both the Joy Luck Club and Song of the Exile focus on cross-cultural mother-daughter relationships and their conflicts. In the Joy Luck Club (00:34:27-00:34:32), the conflict between Waverly and her mother Lindo is shown by the example of Waverly's chess-playing experiences, which demonstrates how Lindo's Chinese style of education confused Waverly who grew up in America. When Waverly won a chess championship and her photo was published in the magazine, Lindo walked on the street and showed it off because she considered Waverly's success as the achievement of her great education. Lindo thinks it is normal to be proud of her child's success, but it makes Waverly uncomfortable. She refuses Lindo to keep doing it, and when she said it is embarrassing, her meaning was distorted by Lindo and she angrily asks in reply: "what? Embarrassed for being my daughter?" In this clip, the reason of their quarrel is partly because of the different cultures they grow up with make them misunderstand each other, so Waverly felt awkward when Lindo shows off her achievement and did not understand why Lindo did not learn chess by herself if she wants to show off, and Lindo was enraged by Waverly's defiance because she thinks Waverly should conform to her without questioning and appreciate her contribution to her success, just like she obeyed her mother when she was in China.

S3. Aiko's Indifferent Attitude

In Song of the Exile (00:11:59-00:12:07), Hueyin did not get along well with her mother Aiko at the beginning of the film, which is because in Hueyin's childhood memory, Aiko always treated her indifferently. For example, when Hueyin called Aiko and wanted to share bread with Aiko, she just ignored her words and gave no response to her. Gradually, Hueyin distanced herself from Aiko and became close with her grandparents, and her attitude disappointed Aiko. The misunderstanding between Hueyin and Aiko is also caused by their different cultural background. Aiko's situation was difficult as a Japanese living in post-war China: She was marginalized by Hueyin's grandparents and she could not speak fluent Cantonese to communicate with Hueyin. However, Hueyin did not know Aiko's experiences, so she was hurt by Aiko's behavior when she was a child, which tenses their relationship.

Similarity 4: Exploration of the Topic of Diaspora Through the Lens of A Family Member's Death

In Song of the Exile, Hueyin's grandparents, who accompanied her as she grew up in Hong Kong, eventually returned to their homeland in Guangdong due to homesickness. When Hueyin returns to Guangdong upon her grandfather's impending death, she realizes that she is no longer a part of the land as her grandfather was, and cannot see China as her true home. For her grandfather, Hong Kong was a place of sojourn, while for Hueyin, it was her home and her homeland. Through her grandfather's death, the movie leaves room for the audience to delve into the relationship between homeland and diaspora.

Similarly, in the Joy Luck Club, the death of June's mother marks the beginning and the focal point of the movie. After her mother's passing, the remaining three women who also immigrated from China to the US reflect on their own past while uncovering the story of the twins that June's mother abandoned in China. Through a non-linear narrative structure that relies heavily on flashbacks and memories, the movie explores the struggles and helplessness of diaspora under the dual conflicts of cultural barriers and inter-generational conflicts, all triggered by June's mother's death.

Alternative Interpretation

In the article Crossing Borders: Time, Memory, and the Construction of Identity in Song of the Exile, the author Patricia Brett Erens claims that Hueyin's mother feels consistently left out and isolated because of her unique ethnic and cultural background, which differs from that of the majority of the family members. When Hueyin was growing up, she found it difficult to form a close bond with her mother because of the cultural and ethnic contrasts between her mother's Japanese heritage and the Chinese culture prevalent in the family. Furthermore, Hueyin was reluctant to acknowledge the difficulties her mother faced while residing with the family.

After carefully viewing the film, we believe that there are at least two episodes in the movie that challenge this thesis. When Hueyin became an adult and knew that her mother was Japanese, she actually took the initiative to improve her relationship with her mother and did not refuse to get closer to her though her mother was Japanese. When Hueyin returned to her mother and sister from London, she offered to accompany her mother to Japan. She did not refuse her mother's bridesmaid hairstyle. However, as seen from the following two episodes, her mother's offish and unconcerned behaviors is also one of the reasons for the estrangement between them.

Scene 1 (00:07:28-00:07:50)

This scene captures Hueyin's first meeting with her mother upon returning home from studying abroad in the UK. Despite Hueyin's effort to greet her mother, the latter merely glances at her and continues playing mahjong, devoid of any interest or excitement upon seeing her. When others ask about Hueyin's major, her mother responds with "who knows, as long as it can make money", displaying a nonchalant attitude towards Hueyin's studies. The awkward ambience between Hueyin and her mother upon her return home indicates a lack of communication between them while Hueyin was studying in the UK, and her mother's unfamiliarity with her academic life. Therefore, it can be inferred that her mother's indifferent attitude towards Huiyin also contributed to the distance between them, and her Japanese heritage is not the sole reason for the strained relationship between mother and daughter.

Scene 2 (00:34:35-00:35:10)

The scene begins with Hueyin opening the door for her mother, who ignores her and walks straight into the room to tidy up. As she tidies, she mutters to herself that she has already contacted her brother and can return to Japan immediately. Her mother does not intend to consult Hueyin while packing, and Hueyin seems like a dispensable person in the room, as if her mother's plan to return to Japan has nothing to do with her. At this point, Hueyin offers to accompany her mother to Japan, but her mother quickly and firmly refuses, showing contempt without even looking at Hueyin. Although Hueyin already knows that her mother is Japanese, she does not show her refusal towards her mother in this scene. Instead, her mother's ignorance to Hueyin's greeting and request to accompany her to Japan has become one of the obstacles that make it difficult for Hueyin to get closer to her mother in adulthood.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Song of the Exile is a thought-provoking film that explores the themes of diasporic female cultural identity. The film has received mixed reviews from both audiences and critics alike. Its public reception has transitioned from a countercultural film to a profound reflection of the mother-daughter relationship, historical term reconstruction, and impressive nostalgia. While some audiences praise its meticulous portrayal of complex relationships and cultural identities, others criticize its lack of adequately engaging with the political realities of the time.

For those interested in learning about Ann Hui's personal experiences, Song of the Exile would be a helpful resource as it covers many important memories about Hui's family and childhood. It also evokes sympathy from overseas immigrants who share the same diasporic experience as Aiko. The film offers a nuanced portrayal of the complexities of family relationships and cultural identities through an intersectional narrative approach as one of its highlights. Moreover, with its unique female perspective on the complexities of cross-cultural relationships and the impact of turbulent times on individual lives, it is certainly worth watching for those interested in exploring these themes thoughtfully and introspectively.