Pushing Hands Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Pushing Hands Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 25, 2022

Aside from one potentially distracting element (see below in the Supplements section for a bit more information), a supplement on this disc offers a Zoom like interview segment that features a wonderful assortment of reminiscences by co-writer and co-producer James Schamus, co-producer Ted Hope and editor Tim Squyres, and discloses how a then largely unknown Ang Lee managed to get both financing and distribution for what would become his first feature film, including his perhaps panicked importuning to Schamus that he (Lee) would die if he didn't get to make a movie soon. Pushing Hands is a sweet natured deconstruction of cultural and generational differences between Chinese and American characters, and as such it is more of a character study than a thrill a minute narrative, but it shows that Lee's keen observational style was already nicely developed even in his first feature film directing effort. The film begins with an almost wordless set of vignettes documenting a strange cohabitation between a somewhat elderly Chinese man and a much younger Caucasian woman, who are ultimately revealed to be father-in-law and daughter-in-law. Chu (Sihung Lung) is a Tai Chi master who has emigrated from China to live with his son Alex (Bo Z. Wang) and his wife Martha (Deb Snyder). While there may not be much dialogue in the opening moments, there is quite a bit of subtext, including hints of tension or at least a lack of intercommunication between the two. That initial impression turns out to be very much the case, but is in fact only the tip of the iceberg in terms of some family dysfunctions, but that said, this is a surprisingly heartwarming piece of filmmaking despite some treacherous emotional territory it traverses at times.

The elder Chu does not speak one word of English, and similarly Martha is completely unfamiliar with Mandarin, which leaves Alex as the appointed go between, though Alex also has to navigate distances other than mere language problems. Martha makes it clear she doesn't want to be Chu's ostensible care giver, but Alex feels compelled to help his Dad in an almost cultural obligation. Interestingly, Chu doesn't initially seem to even need much care, as he makes his way quite handily out and about despite his lack of English skills, ultimately meeting cute with an older Chinese woman named Mrs. Chen (Wang Lai), who has the misfortune to be leading a cooking demonstration next to where Chu conducts a Tai Chi class, to chaotic if humorous results.

Things go from bad to worse with Chu, his son and daughter-in-law, and some of the family frictions are revealed to be echoed in Mrs. Chen's own family dynamic. Despite what might be seen as more than slightly melodramatic turns, the film feels emotionally real and is perhaps all the more moving as a result. It's surprisingly sweet and even funny at times while also not shirking from some darker elements. The whole aspect of an older Tai Chi master teaching some young thuggish types who the real boss is might seem to suggest this would be more of an action oriented film, but it's really the "up close and personal" examination of family dynamics that are fraught with both generational and cross cultural issues that give Pushing Hands so much of its power.

In a way, though, examining how Lee approaches those perceived "action" elements can provide insight into the general emotional ambience of the film. Even the "big showdown" scene relatively late in the film between Chu and some younger toughs is told within the context of what might be termed generational rage, or at least the indignities of growing old and not being respected enough, and that may be just another indication of the interesting perspective Lee gives to could have easily been a more cliché ridden enterprise.

Pushing Hands Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pushing Hands is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Neither the back cover nor the insert booklet had any technical information that I could find, but Film Movement's website touts a 2K restoration based off the original negative. There are both pluses and minuses here, with the major minus being this is another Film Movement release where gamma just looks off to me, something that's noticeable from the get go with what I assume are supposed to be true blacks behind the credits which are just kind of milky gray. And in fact what I'd best describe as a kind of general milky white haze overlays much of this presentation, which can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. That, combined with some bluish or slate gray undertones, can give the palette here a kind of odd quality. Detail levels are quite good in close-ups and even some midrange shots, but definitely falter in some wider framings (see screenshot 14 for one example). Grain can be a bit dirty or gritty looking against brighter backgrounds in particular (see screenshot 18 as it resolves against the siding of the house), but gives the presentation a suitably organic quality.

Pushing Hands Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pushing Hands is one of those films where our audio specs can't quite account for a multilingual release, and so for clarity's sake there are sequences here that are in either English or Mandarin, both delivered via an LPCM 2.0 Mono track. The track features fine fidelity throughout, both in terms of dialogue in either/both language(s), an appealing score or even some occasional sound effects courtesy of Chu's expertise in Tai Chi. The optional English subtitles only translate the Mandarin sequences and do not provide subtitles for any English language scenes.

Pushing Hands Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Filmmakers Roundtable (HD; 1:02:32) is an appealing Zoom consortium with Simon Abrams moderating editor Tim Squyres, co- producer and co-writer James Schamus, and co-producer Ted Hope. This has a ton of fun background information and production anecdotes. In terms of my comment above about potential distractions, note to producer Ted Hope: maybe don't spend your on screen (but non talking) time popping sunflower seeds or whatever they were into your mouth and munching as others are talking, it can "draw focus", to use a theatrical term of art (and, yes, this is all said in jest).


• Pushing Hands Trailer (HD; 2:01)

As with most Film Movement releases, the disc also offers trailers for other releases from Film Movement as well as an About Film Movement option on the Main Menu which leads to text about and a trailer for Film Movement. A nicely appointed insert booklet contains an interesting essay called Balancing Acts by Zhen Zhang, Director of the Asian Film and Media Initiative at the Department of Cinema Studies at New York University.

Pushing Hands Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite a number of elements which could have been almost self parody in a lesser director's hands, Pushing Hands delivers a lot of emotion and some surprising sweetness, at least considering the more psychologically distraught aspects that crop up for various characters. The film offers some really nice performances from both the Chinese actors and Deb Snyder, and Lee keeps the emotional emphasis on interrelationships rather than chasing down some perceived action aspect. This is another Film Movement release where I just felt overall brightness and especially black levels weren't quite right, but I recommend parsing the screenshots to see how you feel. With that one caveat noted, Pushing Hands comes Recommended.