Historically, I have little use for the triptych motion picture. You know, the one that’s really three short films collected together to make one studio-length film. My thought on these rare occasions is usually that the stories aren’t strong enough on their own, so the producer jumbled them all together to hide the fact that none of these individual shorts can hold its own. Rarely does this tactic make for a good experience.
I’m always happy to be wrong about film. Being wrong means the medium isn’t as predictable as I guessed, which is always a good thing. Contrary to my experience, My Heavenly City tells three very moving tangentially related stories of Taiwanese immigrants in New York City, each one of which I wanted to know more about. That’s as rare a movie feat as it gets, folks.
Tale #1 “15th Street” aka The Kid and the Bail. Struggling young adult Mavis (Vivian Sung) finds work as an interpreter with mixed results. She’s mostly hired by ambulance chasers and evil corporations trying to save a buck by screwing immigrants. Occasionally, the work becomes social, as when she has to translate for a teenage illegal, Xiao Jian (Ming Wu), who has been caught (for the crime of being illegal) and likely will be deported. This was the tamest of the trio of stories and yet I was still moved enough to question what was the harm in letting the kid go and making him a US citizen?
Tale #2 “Jack & Lulu” aka The Taiwanese Two-step. Jack (Keung To) and Lulu (Jessica Lee) meet and fall in love over their shared obsession with hip-hop dancing. This is how every.single.dance.movie should be. There’s more heart in this 30 minute segment than in the entirety of the You Got Served franchise.
Tale #3 “Kite“ aka A Spectrum of Disappointment. Nine-year-old Jasper (Logan Cheng) is out of 
control. He’s a spectrum child, so his violent tendencies can’t be solved by any method the RW advises. In the opening of this chapter, Jasper beats up mom, Claire (Mandy Wei), so badly that she needs a hospital, and the kid gets sent to Juvie. Dad, Jason (Chun-Yao Yao), is left to pick up the pieces. This is pretty much a parent’s worst nightmare -aside from the death of their child, of course- as not only are they responsible for a child who goes into violent rages, there’s little that can be done about it. The combination of failed responsibility and impotence is so daunting, it rarely -if ever- gets covered in American film. What audience wants to see that? And yet, such is both infinitely relatable and empathetically refreshing that I found it hard not to be swallowed whole by the subject matter.
My Heavenly City was a film I -in all honestly- don’t encourage because I know triptychs well enough to know they often suffer from lack of heart, not the opposite. Still, I hope I see the name of writer/director Sen-I Yu again.
Three stories about Taiwanese Yankees
Preferring emotion to CGI swankies
The first, about deport
The next, romantic sport
And for the third, you better get out your hankies
Not Rated, 120 Minutes
Director: Sen-I Yu
Writer: Sen-I Yu
Genre: The one that breaks your heart
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Taiwanese immigrants
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: MAGA
