Happy Cleaners 2020
Distributed by Passion River Films, 154 Mt. Bethel Rd., Warren, NJ 07059; 732-321-0711
Produced by Theresa Choh-Lee, Julian Kim, Kat Kim, Hj Lee, and Peter S. Lee
Directed by Julian Kim and Peter S. Lee
Streaming, 96 mins
High School - General Adult
Discrimination; Family; Immigration
Date Entered: 05/26/2021
Reviewed by Ray Boucher, Lecturer of Theater and Film (SUNY Buffalo State, SUNY Geneseo, GCC, NCCC) and actorWhen explaining why he is hesitant to marry one of the film's protagonists, Hyunny (played by Yeena Sung), Danny (Donald Chang) says that he's "inherited all this debt and struggle from [his] parents because their American Dream fell apart." At its heart, that is what Happy Cleaners is about--the struggles of a Korean-American family surviving with an unprofitable dry-cleaning business in Queens, NY. The Choi family are harried and bullied and just barely hanging on.
Beyond the struggle to survive, the film is also about the connection with and burden of family. Daughter, Hyunny, has put her life on hold to help pay the family's bills; Kevin (Yun Jeong), the son, wants to move to Los Angeles; and their mother (played with viciousness and pathos by Hyang-Hwa Lim) hectors them all about their life choices in the hopes that they do not end up like her, in an unsatisfying marriage to their beleaguered father (played by Charles Ryu). Directors Kim and Lee get good, if uneven, performances out of their cast, and though there are some uncomfortable and heartbreaking scenes, we never lose the sense of love that holds this family together.
Awards:
Best Narrative, Audience Award, CAAMFest; Emerging Filmmaker Award, VC FilmFest - Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
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