BY PEGGY LUHRS Saving Face Alice Wu, director Starring Joan Chen, Lynn Chen, Michelle Krusiec Wolfe Video In English with some subtitles for Chinese 97 minutes, Rated R guess each ethnic group will need to tell its own version ' of the coming out story, and Saving Face is basically the Chinese version. Directed with skill and a lovely light touch by Alice Wu, this is the story of a _ mother and daughter and how they come to accept each other and understand that following their own life desires is more important than being dutiful daughters. Wil (Michelle Krusiec) is a doctor; a very good and very busy surgeon. She seems to devote her life to her work, inter- rupted only by the variousdates her mother arranges for her with a series of men she has no inter- est in. She soon meets Vivian Ching (Lynn Chen) not knowing Viv is the daughter of her boss. They meet by thephospital vend- ing machines, with Vivian being the flirtatious initiator of the contact. Vivian is a ballet dancer." They begin an affair just as Wil’s widowed mother Hwei-Lan Gao (Joan Chen) shows up on her doorstep pregnant. Hwei-Lan Gao’s being mid- dle-aged, single, and pregnant has not made her traditional Chinese father happy, and he ousts her from the family home in Flushing. Soon it is Wil fixing. up Mom with a series of men, hoping to find her a husband and _ appease her grandfather. With her mother as a roommate Wil feels she carmot stay, out all night with Vivian. Vivian wants Awhile Mom dates a series of the mountains, Wil around more, wants her to meet her friends and asks: “Why don’t you just tell her?” “She knows,” Wil replies, “She walked in on me and my girl- friend once, and that is when she started fixing me up .” For a at inappropriate men and Wil and Vivian continue a relationship that increasingly frustrates Vivian. But things can’t go on this wa,y and the movie needs to build to its dramatic moment when true love sorts it out, at least for mom. A Lower Manhattan makes a V lovely backdrop for this indie film which has strong production values. We get aglimpse of. de andsecrets Chinese American culture and are introduced to a series of interesting characters. Joan Chen does an excellent understated turn as the publicly humiliated mother. The romance between Wil and Vivian is sweet and believable, and there are a lot of slyly humorous and well- observed moments. The Sapphic Cinema audi- ence loved this one, and I’d rate it high on the unfortunately not very long list of lesbian love stories. V Peggy Luhrs runs Sapphic Cinema nights at the R.U .1 .2? Queer Community Center. She A lives. and writes in Burlington. Pg oynrg, peri_}-‘ 122();x"tg¢§gi’$, home’ cquit rem! nffzrzrnzriizzg. www.sprucemortgage.com ...with loyalty, integrity, and creativity. V For Preapproval, Rate, or Financing Information, Contact: Denise Vignoe TEL 802.552.0367 CELL 802318-2860 Denise@spmcemor1gage.com Cyd lsieib TOLL-FREE 300.503.4559 CELL 802.236.4295 Cyd@spmcemortgage.com Hwei-Lan Gao’s being middle-aged, single, and pregnant has not made her traditional Chinese father happy, and he ousts her from the family home in Flushing. -~ Anywhere, Anyplace, Anytime. I? CHILD TRAVEL SERVICES COLCHESTER 0 SO. BUl?l.|NGTON BURLINGTON ~ ST. JOHNSBURY 1-800-203-2929 WWW.CHlLDTRAVEL.COM