ReelBob: ‘Beneath the Banyan Tree’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
Families are complicated. Parents who experience disappointment in their own lives try not to pass that burden onto their children.
Yet in wanting the best for their kids, parents often create expectations and pressures that create resentment or even drive the very ones they love away.
No matter the culture, the dynamics are similar.
And that is what makes “Beneath the Banyan Tree” so relatable.
Those undercurrents are especially prevalent in Chinese culture where family takes precedence over an individual. In today’s world, however, in which younger generations are slowly forsaking traditions, these long-accepted practices are diminishing.
So, it is with the Woo family. Twelve years earlier, Ai-Jia left China for America to escape her demanding and controlling mother. Years earlier, the family had been deserted by their father, Mrs. Woo’s husband.
Ai-Jia (Kathy Wu) had dreams of being a writer, but thus far has been unsuccessful. She lives in Los Angeles working as a tour guide, showing Chinese tourists the sites of the city. She also is living with her Caucasian boyfriend, Vance (Travis Goodman).
Ai-Jia is distraught to learn that her mother (Ah Leh Chang Gua) is coming to the United States with her two teenage grandchildren after her son and daughter-in-law are arrested and jailed on corruption charges.
Despite her misgivings, Vance convinces Ai-Jia to let her family live with them. From the outset, discord and tension surface.
Mrs. Woo is judgmental and exacting, more concerned with upholding her family’s reputation than in adapting to her new surroundings.
The two teenagers, easy-going grandson Zheng Yu (Jiayu Wang) and rebellious and unhappy granddaughter Zheng Qi (Demi Ke), also are emotionally upended.
Trying to adjust to their new lives is made more difficult by Mrs. Woo’s unbending attitude of trying to maintain control over her family.
The movie emphasizes the generational conflicts and cultural clashes that initiate friction within the family.
Writer-director Nani Li Yang shines a spotlight on the difficulties of adapting to new surroundings as well as a society with rules different from the one in which you were raised and taught.
The performances by the main players, especially Ah Leh Chang Gua and Kathy Wu, propel the movie. The two young actors, Wang and Ke, also get their moments to shine as the try to maneuver the tricky halls of a new high school and dealing with a new language.
“Beneath the Banyan Tree” could have used a few trims, but overall, it is a movie in which most people can recognize some aspect of their family dynamics.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
BENEATH THE BANYAN TREE
3 stars out of 4
Not rated, sexual situations, language