Category: First Impressions
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Davy Chou (director), Return to Seoul, 2022. 119 min. Thereβs an ambiguity inherent in the title of Davy Chouβs film Return to Seoul. At first sight, it seems to…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Cultural Orphanage: Davy Chou’s π
ππ‘π’ππ π‘π ππππ’π” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/return-to-seoul3.webp?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS R.F. Kuang, Yellowface, William Morrow, 2023. 336 pgs. The title of the novel and its bright yellow cover suggests that the subject matter might having something to do with…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Can An Author Write About Anything? Reading R.F. Kuang’s ππππππ€ππππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/yellowface_wide-a73252995366ad95b7c30c94329e78559d919765-s1400-c100.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Seven Moons. Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Penguin India, 2022. Nearly the first impression you get in The Seven Moon of Maali…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Wait Till You See it With Ghosts: Shehan Karunatilaka’s πβπ πππ£ππ πππππ ππ πππππ π΄ππππππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida_shehan-karunatilaka.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mu Xin (author), Toming Jun Liu (translator), An Empty Room: Stories, New Directions, 2011. 192 pgs. Translated into English by Toming Jun Liu, An Empty Room by Mu Xin…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βLike the Meanderings of a River: Mu Xinβs π΄π πΈπππ‘π¦ π
πππβ by Yimin Huang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/an-empty-room-mu-xin-1.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mamoru Hosada (director), Wolf Children, 2012. 117 min. A story about a single mother trying to bring up two half-Japanese children on her own might naturally be of interest…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βππππ πΆβππππππ as a Statement on Parenthood and Modern Japanβ by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/wolf-children.jpg?w=1020)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS β Michihito Fujii (director), The Journalist, 2019. 113 min.β Michihito Fujii (director), A Family, 2021. 136 min.β Michihito Fujii (director), Village, 2023. 120 min. In these days of ever fewer choices…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Michihito Fujii on Netflix” by Paul French](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/michihito-fujii-1.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Richard Gordon and Carma Hinton (directors), The Gate of Heavenly Peace, 1995. 180 min. i. There was one rule in our house when I was a child back when…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βOn a Yellow Sticker: πβπ πΊππ‘π ππ π»πππ£ππππ¦ πππππβ by J. Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/gate-of-heavenly-peace.jpeg?w=366)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Penguin Random House, 2003. 356 pgs. There was a time when I was desperate for a reaffirmation of literatureβs…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βWhere Are the Other Voices We Want to Hear? Reading π
ππππππ πΏππππ‘π ππ ππβπππβ by Garfield Chow](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/reading-lolita-in-tehran-1.jpeg?w=675)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Chungking Express. Wong Kar-wai (director), Chungking Express, 1994. 92 min. Whenever I think of Wong Kar-waiβs Chungking Express I hear California Dreaminβ by The Mamas…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βTwo Stories in One: Wong Kar-waiβs πΆβπ’ππππππ πΈπ₯ππππ π β by e rathke](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/chungking-express.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chan Tze-Woon (director), Blue Island, 2022. 97 min. A history student, I linger in the Hong Kong Museum of Historyβs condensed Hong Kong Story exhibition: one room per millennium,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βA Hong Kong History in Chan Tze-Woonβs π΅ππ’π πΌπ ππππβ by Michelle Suen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/blue-island.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBeijing Bubbles: Andrew Fieldβs Rocking Chinaβ by Matt Turner Andrew Field, Rocking China: Rock Music Scenes in Beijing, Shanghai & Beyond, Earnshaw Books, 2023. 212 pgs. You can listen…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBeijing Bubbles: Andrew Fieldβs π
ππππππ πΆβπππβ by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/rocking-china-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yudho Aditya (director), Pria, 2017. 22 min. In a world where heterosexuality is still considered the norm, there remain many deterrents for LGBT people from embracing their queerness. And,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βTraditionalist Material Symbols in Yudho Adityaβs ππππβ by Upasana Dandona](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/pria-fi.jpg?w=600)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Soetsu Yanagi, The Beauty of Everyday Things, Penguin, 2018. 352 pgs. The best book purchases are those of volumes discovered serendipitously on a shop shelf, just as the best…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βCraft Work: Soetsu Yanagiβs πβπ π΅πππ’π‘π¦ ππ πΈπ£πππ¦πππ¦ πβππππ β by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/onta-ware-collected-by-yanagi-soetsu.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1989. 288 pgs. The day I began writing this piece, a family of Chinese descent were killed in a shooting…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Amy Tanβs πβπ π½ππ¦ πΏπ’ππ πΆππ’π and the Will to Live” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/le_joy_luck_club__c1.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Akira Kurosawa (director), Stray Dog, 1949. 122 min. Tokyo is a city that is always changing. Old buildings are constantly being torn down and new ones put up. As I…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAkira Kurosawa’s ππ‘πππ¦ π·ππ as a View into Post-war Tokyo” by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/stray-dog-3.jpg?w=836)
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π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Isabel Sandoval (director), Lingua Franca, 2019. 90 min. In the gloaming hour, light leaves remnants of ambiguity everywhere. Nothing of consequence has asserted itself, at least not yet.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βIntimating Emergency in Isabel Sandovalβs πΏππππ’π πΉπππππβ by Sean Carballo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mv5bymewnmuymdqtnwrjny00nwm4lwixymmtzdm0zjexmdkzogzmxkeyxkfqcgdeqxvymtq3njg3mq4040._v1_-1.jpg?w=797)
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π Click HERE for all First Impressions entries. We are very pleased to announce the launch of π π’π«π¬π ππ¦π©π«ππ¬π¬π’π¨π§π¬, a section of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal devoted to compact reviews of books and films (300-800 words; negotiable) that may…
![[CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS] First Impressions](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/first-impressions_cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Iβve always sensed that Hong Kong has a unique way of combining the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Making Sense of Time: Dorothy Tse and ππ€πππ β” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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