Chan
is a shy Chinese seamstress who probably does not have the time or money to
enjoy horror movies. Weirdly, she starts to suspect Yamada, her gothy Japanese
supermodel neighbor is bringing the j-horror to her. However, perceptions and
preconceptions cannot always be trusted in Hyun Lee’s short film Asian Girls (trailer here), which screens
during the 2018 Brooklyn International Film Festival.
Many
nights, Chan wakes from a dream in which Yamada is knelling over her in bed.
She considers it a nightmare, but maybe some viewers would not. In this
unidentified megalopolis, space is at such a premium, the classes are forced to
live in close proximity, but that does not breed familiarity or understanding—quite
the contrary in fact.
During
the dialogue-free film, we see both women going about their daily existences.
While their lifestyles are radically different, they are equally solitary. They
also happen to represent two very different media archetypes of Asian women:
the worker prole and the sexualized vamp. Lee cleverly uses the visual
vocabulary of horror movies, especially Japanese horror conventions, to address
such stereotyping. She also rather cleverly pulls off the twist at the end.
Frankly,
Lee and cinematographer Grégoire Lière give the film such a sleek, stylish
look, we rather wish it were longer, with a plottier narrative. On the other
hand, it would be hard to sustain the wordlessness, which really works well in
the context of the seven-minute film. Indeed, it makes the sinister sound design
even joltier.
Rainbow
Chan and Stella Leung are both wonderfully expressive, yet still craftily mysterious
as Chan and Yamada respectively. It quite a cinematic piece of weirdness that
should please Asian horror fans. Highly recommended, Asian Girls screens again this Sunday (6/10), as part of this year’s
Brooklyn Film Festival.
