Netflix’s Tigertail – A Beautiful Immigrant Story

Representation matters now more than ever. With last year’s The Farewell and (hopefully) this year’s Minari telling important stories from an Asian perspective, Tigertail, a clear passion project for the famed television writer and director Alan Yang, hopes to continue in their footsteps. This love letter to Yang’s father (who also narrates), the film is another heartbreaking and beautiful story of the immigrant experience told over multiple generations. Going from Taiwanese to Mandarin to English, this may not be for everyone but it pulls audiences deeper into the story that subverts many Asian stereotypes as it explores the struggles of adapting to a new environment while still holding an emotional connection to their former homelands.

Tigertail tells the story of a man named Pin-Jui (Ma), a Taiwanese man who had since become a shell of his former self. Stoic and emotionally distant and his daughter Angela (Ko) were becoming increasingly estranged from one another. At risk of living out the remaining years of his life alone, Pin-Jui would need to reconnect with Angela and his past so he could finally open up to her. Over the course of the film, we see him as an older man and also as a younger man (Lee) growing up in Taiwan before moving to America. Pin-Jui certainly lived a tough life from growing up in rice fields with his grandparents during the communist occupation of Taiwan and falling in love with the girl next door to working in a sugar factory with his single mother. Meanwhile, he had always dreamed about going to America and bringing his mother along so she would not longer have to work. Pin-Jui would get that chance but it would mean agreeing to an arranged marriage with the factory owner’s daughter Zhenzhen (Kunjue Li and Fiona Fu), also Angela’s mother.

While there arguably wasn’t much love between them, Pin-Jui and Zhenzhen tried to make it work in their new and much different surroundings in New York City. It was definitely easier said than done as not everything would go according to plan as he would have to work extra hard to support himself and Zhenzhen who had a hard time herself as she found herself often alone, Without many Taiwanese people in their immediate area, it was tough to make friends or any other significant relationships. Beaten down by the pressure of having to support his family, Pin-Jui became dejected and emotionally distant which took its toll on his marriage and also his relationship with Angela. Over time, he began to miss his former home and the life he could have had and it was through his reconnecting with his past, prompted by his wanting to open up to Angela, that reminded him of this.

Tigertail was a truly beautiful film, from its albeit repetitive score, to its gorgeous cinematography especially with how the past and present timelines were shot, going from grainy to a more traditional style. The script was strong though in the end, the best part of the film was its performances across the board, especially Ma in a much-overdue leading role. Ma as Pin-Jui delivers a subtle powerhouse performance as a damaged man hardened by the years. His charisma and screen presence made it hard to look away. While he may not have spoke all that much, whatever he did say spoke volumes. Once the walls around him started to come down, it was quite something to behold while the moment when they all finally came down was heartbreaking to watch. Meanwhile, Lee was a revelation as the younger Pin-Jui. His magnetic and energetic performance was fun to watch with his charisma and likability leading the way. Ko was solid as Angela in limited screen time. Her relationship with Pin-Jui was one of the pillars of the film and her chemistry with Ma made it work well.

At the end of the day, Tigertail was another beautiful immigrant story that was unfortunately too short, clocking in at only 90 minutes. While it’s hard to not want more, it is still one of the better Netflix originals available and is also one of the better films of the year in its own right.

*still courtesy of Netflix*

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.