Movie: The Gua Sha Treatment
As I have admitted elsewhere, I am no expert on Chinese film, but I do watch and appreciate a fair amount of Chinese movies. I recently watched The Gua Sha Treatment, starring Tony Ka Fai Leung and Jiang Wen Li, and found it a movie that many foreigners would find accessible and enjoyable — probably even more so than one of my favorites, To Live, which I introduced some time back. One reason many “outsiders” might find it more accessible is that most of the dialogue is in English, which will probably make it immediately easier to get into. Also, it is set in St. Louis, and addresses issues that are as much of a concern to viewers outside of China as inside. It addresses some universal themes, and is also set in a more modern day setting. All of that probably adds up to a film that is more approachable by outsiders than a lot of Chinese movies are.
My friends and I who watched the show together all really enjoyed it — perhaps more than we expected to. The story is about a family from Beijing who has migrated to St. Louis and is achieving the American Dream. Their little boy suffers an accident, and in the hospital, an investigation begins when horrible bruises are found on his back. Naturally, state welfare services want to investigate whether the boy is living in a safe environment. What they don’t realize is that the bruises were received when the boy underwent Gua Sha treatment, a Chinese medical practice.
From this starting point, the story unravels beautifullly. I love how it both covertly and overtly highlights some aspects that are very important to Chinese culture, but misunderstood or even despised in St. Louis. It is a movie about cultural awareness/sensitivity/appreciation; about misunderstandings and misperceptions; about struggling with hardships when chasing one’s dreams; about the sacrifices a father makes for his son, and a son makes for his father. It was a very moving film.
The movie isn’t available at either Amazon or B&N, but it is available here from a Singapore company (I bought mine in Shanghai), and you might could check the link above. It is a very nice film — one that makes you think while it touches and entertains.
