In a style reminiscent of Chris Marker,  Reunification  (2015) meditates on the nature of memory, family, and art. 

Alvin Tsang is motivated to contextualize his family’s experience empathetically, historically, and philosophically. The intimate family history we are given is marked by immigration, betrayal, and divorce. But Tsang never relies on the shock of the real that reality-injected TV has worked so hard to manufacture. 

Instead, the film tries hard to be less sensational. This is a personal story and a personal drama. To create the needed intimacy, the film relies on matter-of-fact conversations, family photos, and the documentation of personal spaces. It is from this personal point of view that Reunification projects itself into grander schemes of family dynamics and political situations. 

Because of Tsang’s more interconnected view of his life, Reunification opens up moments of confrontation but also interpretation. At one point Tsang confronts his mother about why she divorced his father. Her answer boils down the fact that she does not need to clarify her decision because the past needs to stay in the past. 

This conversation becomes an important touchstone for the rest of the film and helps solidify the intersection between memory, family, and art. Tsang concludes that “the only way I can look forward to my own future peacefully is by understanding our experience.” 

Here, Tsang’s “our” refers not only to his family but also to the immigrant experience and the traumas associated with it. That experience is something that permeates the backdrop of the film. Salon columnist and Jeopardy!  champion Arthur Chu draws a strong connection between Reunification and the Asian-American experience: 

‘[Reunification is] a film very clearly put together to say things through the language of film that the filmmaker is uncomfortable saying any other way… [it] is the film that’s come closes to feeling like a truly distinct Asian-American [film] language.’

The immigrant experience is as American as apple pie, but it is hard to think of a topic more contentious and polarizing in today’s political climate. 

Reunification is a pertinent reminder of the humanity at the heart of the immigrant experience, and of the fact that there are human lives behind the statistics and stories we see and hear. 

Reunification on DVD. Get your copy of Reunification from Facets today. Available for pre-order now and available for retail starting June 12, 2018.