Filmmaker gets rave reviews for controversial movie

By Mayka Mei

Only a day after the war protests broke out in Union Square, filmmaker Justin Lin greeted me at the door of his San Francisco Prescott Hotel suite, and for a guy who took out ten credit cards just to make a two hour movie, he was amazingly relaxed.

Born in Taiwan and growing up in Orange County since age nine, 30-something year-old Lin has dealt with stereotypes for most of his life. "We were the only Asian American family...I grew up when either you're Long Duck Dong or you're Bruce Lee or something."

Being an Asian American in the film industry has been a challenge for the producer, director, writer and editor. Asian Americans simply aren't seen often in the field. Now, Lin's major project, "Better Luck Tomorrow," is coming out in mainstream theaters with its primarily Asian American cast, and Lin will soon face the obstacle of standing ground for his work of art.

Some people make the mistake of walking into the theater to see "Better Luck" and expect a wholesome 128 minutes about Asian American culture. However, "Better Luck" is dark, and some viewers have taken offense at how it supposedly portrays Asian American youth.

"Some people are like: 'What are you doing representing [Asians like this]?'" Lin recalls. "I'm only representing six people!"

"I'm not trying to say: 'Look, everybody, I'm Japanese American; I'm Chinese American; I'm Filipino American. I'm not," Lin says. "I'm a filmmaker first, and I have my experiences, and if you want to label that Asian American, that's very broad."

"Better Luck" is a movie that stems from a very specific viewpoint. It comes from the perspectives of upper-middle class, Asian American, suburban, honor roll, teenage boys - factors that Lin finds are important for audience members to keep in mind.

Since its debut at Sundance 2002, the independent film has been getting rave reviews and is already considered a landmark achievement for Asian Americans in the entertainment industry. "Better Luck" is a definite pioneer in American film in that its cast of Asian American actors is not playing roles that fit typical Asian American stereotypes.

Getting funding for an independent, Asian American film was no simple task. Lin refused to give in to financiers' suggestions to change the leads to white or Latino actors. In doing so, Lin sacrificed a great deal to meet his dream of completing "Better Luck."

To produce the film, Lin paid a good amount of money from his own pocket (taking out his life savings and those ten credit cards) and even received some financial assistance from former rapper MC Hammer.

"Even the lowest budget film is more money than people are used to," Lin said, "We had a fraction of [what we needed] and had people working for free along with donated equipment.

"When I set out to make the film I really felt this could potentially be my last," said the UCLA film school graduate. For that reason, Lin went all out in making "Better Luck" pure to his original vision. "My goal was to make a film that dealt with issues that were very important to me...[And not to] sugarcoat anything."

"These are issues I want to deal with," Lin says of the film. "And not to say that I have the answers. I think my job is to hopefully pose the questions so that the audience, after seeing it, can discuss amongst themselves."

Lin also met with frustration while casting. While viewing the actor's reel for Jason Tobin (who plays Virgil in "Better Luck"), Lin was disappointed to see scene after scene of Tobin in big movies and television shows just delivering Chinese food. Lin pointed out the sad reality when he said, "A lot of these actors, they're used to going in for one-line roles."

Due to the scarcity of jobs available for Asian American actors, a number of the "Better Luck" cast members were actually considering quitting show business entirely. Then they saw the script for "Better Luck," and, according to Lin, "You could just see the hunger...They've been waiting for this. They were just so passionate that it became a great collaboration."

Lin is currently working on three projects, including a collaborative piece with Spike Lee and even a romantic comedy-a complete 180-degree turn from the themes of "Better Luck."

"After people see 'Better Luck,' they think: 'Oh, you must be dark and morbid,'" Lin says, "But I'm not. I'm like a goofball."

With the opening weekend for "Better Luck" coming up, Lin anticipates two things. First, Lin hopes that "Better Luck" will transcend its surface singularity and appeal to audiences beyond just the Asian American community.

Second, Lin hopes that in about three years time, Asian American films will be as widely spread in American theaters as any other blockbuster movies.

Warns Lin, "You can't just depend on one film with 'Oh, you're trying to represent the whole community'...It's unfair and it would be a crappy movie. It would suck, you know?"

"It's not a question of talent; I know the talent's there. But there's just no opportunities. Someone's got to create the opportunities, right? And that's the important thing."