Svona er Sanlitun eftir Róbert Douglas verður brátt sýnd í kvikmyndahúsum í Kína. Terence Hsieh hjá vefnum The World of Chinese hefur birt umsögn um myndina.
Þar segir meðal annars:
Expat troubles are a budding new topic among directors in both the Chinese and European spheres of independent cinema. From the follies of Chinese living abroad and Americans living in China, there’s a wealth of ridiculousness to be parodied from linguistic hijinks through to any number of cultural faux pas. Such films feature expatriates searching for identity, often with mischief on their minds, or to escape heartbreak; most prevalently, these protagonists are existentially alone in their environments, uncomfortable in their own skin. It is the paradox of being a foreigner; exposure of an individual’s outward differences from the rest of the world actually causes a crisis of identity: “Who am I?” and “Why am I so different?”
Og einnig segir:
Just like almost all films that deal with expat troubles in China, This Is Sanlitun has been received by expats with mixed feelings: while some praise the movie for its portrayal of expat attitudes (despite their being caricatures), others are too bitter and retracted within their bubbles to appreciate the absurd humor about themselves.
Shortcomings aside, Beijing, according to Gary, is a place that, despite its best attempts to eat him alive, manages to remain a place with remarkable charm. Most expats seem to agree: living as a foreigner in Beijing is a day by day struggle. The question we then should ask and to which we have yet to see an answer is: “How does the other half live?”
