|
''To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey'' () is a 2009 docudrama about actress Nancy Kwan. Directed and written by former Warner Bros. executive Brian Jamieson, the film depicts Kwan's meteoric rise to fame when she was selected to star in the 1960 film ''The World of Suzie Wong'' and the 1961 film ''Flower Drum Song''. In an era when White people played the Asian roles in Hollywood, Kwan's achievement was groundbreaking. The film portrays Kwan's being cast for inconspicuous roles after her early success. ''To Whom It May Concern'' was filmed in locations in several countries, including Cambodia, Hong Kong, and the United States. In Cambodia's 12th-century temple Angkor Wat, Kwan grapples with the death of her son, Bernie Pock, from AIDS at the age of 33 in 1996. The film is being screened in film festivals internationally. It was awarded "Best Feature Documentary" by American International Film Festival and WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. Reviewers praised the documentary for its judicious use of archival footage and poignant interviews with Kwan. Several reviewers characterized the clips of Kwan's watching "The World of Suzie Wong" as unnecessary and unpolished. ==Background== A fan of Nancy Kwan's, Brian Jamieson, an executive at the home entertainment division of Warner Bros., started to examine her life while his company was deciding whether to re-release several of Kwan's films. As a youth in New Zealand, Jamieson watched movies in which Caucasian actors portrayed Asian characters. Pondering why studios made this decision, he was fascinated in 1960 when he watched ''The World of Suzie Wong'' by how Kwan became the first Asian lead in a Hollywood film.〔 In 2000, Jamieson began trying to convince his colleagues to re-release three of Nancy Kwan's films, ''The Main Attraction'', ''Honeymoon Hotel'' and ''Tamahine''. After three fruitless years, he came up with a second idea: creating a 30-minute documentary of Kwan's life titled ''The World of Nancy Kwan'' and bundling it with five films. In additional to ''The Main Attraction'', ''Honeymoon Hotel'', ''Tamahine'', all of which were owned by Warner Bros., Jamieson intended to include ''The World of Suzie Wong'' and ''Flower Drum Song''. The latter two were owned by Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios, respectively, so he planned to license the films from the two companies.〔 Saying that he viewed "a story here that was bigger than the sum of its parts", he decided to create the documentary.〔 Jamieson said he hosted screenings at the Warner Bros. and that although people enjoyed the film, they did not promise to accept the project.〔 Jamieson met Kwan through her niece, Veronica Kwan-Rubinek, a financial analyst at Warner Bros. beginning in 1987. In 2003, Kwan-Rubinek phoned Jamieson, telling him a film archivist suggested that she consult Jamieson to find a film poster from ''The World of Suzie Wong''. Jamieson possessed a collection of the posters he had prepared for a potential Kwan documentary. He brought them to Kwan-Rubinek's office. While they drank coffee together, Kwan-Rubinek perused the collection and selected one she admired. After Jamieson gave it to her, she discovered a second poster. She inquired whether he would give her that one too so she could give it to her aunt. Jamieson asked her who her aunt was, and she responded, "Nancy Kwan". Shocked, Jamieson, responded, "Oh, God! Had I known you were related to Nancy Kwan when you arrived at Warners in 1987, you would have been my best friend!" One month later, Kwan-Rubinek invited Jamieson to have lunch with herself, Nancy Kwan, and Linda Lo. Jamieson and Kwan discussed Jamieson's documentary plan and their favorite films—they both admired John Ford's ''The Searchers''. The lunch lasted three hours and the two met later multiple times at the Sportsmen's Lodge to discuss how to order the film.〔 The film's title, ''To Whom it May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey'', is a reference to two elements in Kwan's life. The greeting "to whom it may concern" is a connection to a crucial phrase in the 1960 film ''The World of Suzie Wong'', in which Kwan starred. The subtitle alludes to Kwan's childhood Chinese name, Ka Shen.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|