TOPIC SENTENCE: Journey from the Fall showcases aspects of how immigrants struggle with their pursuit of better lives in foreign countries. I will compare and contrast this film with “Shanghai Calling” written and directed by Daniel Hsia.

ARGUMENT/ANALYSIS: Journey from the Fall illuminates the above theme by focusing on Long and Mai’s family. The family is trying to survive the aftermath of the Vietnamese war by seeking a new life in the United States. The family has to endure a lot in their journey that is through a boat that encompasses numerous refugees packed into a cargo hold enduring claustrophobia, illness, and starvation. When the family relocates to California, they were confronted with diluted versions of similar problems they were facing in Vietnam. This includes discrimination, deprivation and a hostile dominant culture, which pushes them to assimilate. The film has demonstrated well how immigrants end up being shocked since their expectations are that their lives will turn out being better upon relocation, but that is never the case. Shanghai Calling showcases a similar attribute, but in a different way. Sam Chao is sent to the firm’s Shanghai office to take care of some business. The relocation turns out disastrous for Chao. Life in Shanghai does not come along how he anticipated. It takes the intervention of Amanda and Donald to help Cha save his job and appreciate life in Shanghai. The contrasting element between the films is that in the Journey from the Fall the immigration was pushed by the struggles that Mai’s family was experiencing in South Vietnam. Chao, on the other hand, was pushed to move for business/work related reasons.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: I have had to experience this aspect first hand. When I was moving to the United States, I had these expectations of how my life would be great. The American movies that I had watched gave me this notion. However, things were very different when I landed. Initially, I struggled to adjust given the cultural differences that existed. The way of life was very different compared to what I was used to. I did not have any friends or acquaintances over here, and this made adjustment harder.  My attempts to assimilate also met some criticism from my parents as they thought I was “changing” quite fast.

CITATION/QUOTATION: According to Nguyen (2006), Journey from the Fall “it’s the untold story about the post-Vietnam war experience of re-education camps, boat people and the immigration process to America. It’s about a family that separated after the war and struggling against all odds to be reunited in the hope of freedom.” This shows a family that was running from struggles in their country but do not find the freedom that they were craving in the United States. Fujishima (2013) on the other hand, asserts that Shanghai Calling revolves around “a corporate attorney named Sam Chao (Daniel Henney), and the obliviousness to the world outside his New York City bubble that leads to many instances of culture clash when his bosses send him to Shanghai for a few months on assignment.” The culture clash makes it difficult for Chao to adjust to life in Shanghai.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION: Journey from the Fall showcases aspects of how immigrants struggle with their pursuit of better lives in foreign countries. Mai’s family was experiencing diluted versions of similar problems they were facing in Vietnam upon relocating to California. Chao, on the other hand, struggles to adjust to life in Shanghai due to culture clashes. This is something that most immigrants encounter while in foreign countries.

 References

Fujishima, K. (2013). Shanghai Calling | Film Review | Slant Magazine. Slant Magazine. Retrieved 27 April 2017, from http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/shanghai-calling

Nguyen, M. (2006). An Interview with Journey from the Fall director Ham Tran.

 
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