‘Blue Sun Palace’ Review: A Moody Debut Shines Light on Sisterhood Among Chinese Immigrants Working in a Massage Parlor
variety.comAlissa Simon Film Critic The intimate and naturalistic Mandarin-language drama “Blue Sun Palace” has nabbed the French Touch prize from the Cannes Critics’ Week jury, putting Chinese-American writer-director Constance Tsang on the map as a talent to watch after her feature debut.
Certain to see future festival action, the drama about three working-class Chinese immigrants in Flushing, NY, the film succeeds with touching performances from Ke-Xi Wu (“Nina Wu”), Lee Kang Sheng (Tsai Ming Liang’s iconic actor) and Haixpeng Xu (“Where Echoes Never End”) that could tempt distributors in the coming months.
Although the borough of Queens is pone of the most diverse places on the planet, the insular world of “Blue Sun Palace” is almost solely Chinese, unfolding in New York’s largest Chinatown.
Taiwanese Amy (Ke-Xi Wu) and mainlander Didi (Haixpeng Xu)work along with two other women in a massage parlor with an exclusively male clientele.
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