The Slanted Screen
Encyclopedia
The Slanted Screen is a 2006 documentary
film
written, produced, and directed by Jeff Adachi
about the stereotypical depictions and absence of Asian
males in American
cinema
and other media from the silent era (when Sessue Hayakawa
rivaled Douglas Fairbanks
) to the present day.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written, produced, and directed by Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi
Jeff Adachi is the elected Public Defender of San Francisco, pension reform advocate, and a former candidate for Mayor of San Francisco.-Early life and education:...
about the stereotypical depictions and absence of Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
males in American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and other media from the silent era (when Sessue Hayakawa
Sessue Hayakawa
was a Japanese and American Issei actor who starred in American, Japanese, French, German, and British films. Hayakawa was the first and one of the few Asian actors to find stardom in the United States as well as Europe. Between the mid-1910s and the late 1920s, he was as well known as actors...
rivaled Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
) to the present day.
Interviewees
- Eric BylerEric BylerEric Byler is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist. He identifies as hapa biracial, born to a Chinese American mother and a white American father. He grew up in Virginia, Hawaii , and California. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1994, majoring in film...
- Gene Cajayon
- Terence ChangTerence ChangTerence Chang Chia-Chen is a Hong Kong and American film producer.-Career:Chang is one of John Woo's long time friends and favoured producers...
- Frank ChinFrank ChinFrank Chin is an American author and playwright.- Life and career :Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California, but was raised to the age of six by a retired Vaudeville couple in Placerville, California. At six his mother brought him back to the San Francisco Bay Area to live in Oakland Chinatown...
- Bobby Lee
- Jason Scott Lee
- Will Yun LeeWill Yun LeeWill Yun Lee is an Korean American actor.He is best known for his roles on TNT's supernatural drama series Witchblade as Danny Woo and as Jae Kim on NBC's science fiction television drama Bionic Woman...
- Justin LinJustin LinJustin Lin is a Taiwanese American film director, best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious franchise and the television show, Community.-Life and career:...
- Tzi MaTzi MaTzi Ma is a Chinese American actor who has made numerous appearances in American films and TV series.-Life and career:Ma was born in Hong Kong...
- MakoMako (actor), born , was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname. -Early life:...
- Dustin NguyenDustin NguyenDustin Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American actor, director, writer and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Harry Truman Ioki on 21 Jump Street and as Johnny Loh on V.I.P.-Early life:...
- Phillip RheePhillip RheePhillip Rhee is a Korean-American actor and director, most famous for his role in the Best of the Best movie series....
- James ShigetaJames ShigetaJames Shigeta is an American film and television actor. He is also a standards singer, musical theatre and nightclub performer, and recording artist. He is a Nisei or second-generation American of Japanese ancestry.-Early life:...
- Cary-Hiroyuki TagawaCary-Hiroyuki Tagawais a Japanese-American actor.In addition to his extensive film work, he has appeared on television in Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Encounter at Farpoint" , Thunder in Paradise , Nash Bridges , Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding , and Heroes . He also provided the voice of Sin Tzu for the video game...
Films Featured
Films featured in The Slanted Screen are:- They Call Me Bruce?They Call Me Bruce?They Call Me Bruce? is a 1982 comedy action film starring Johnny Yune and Margaux Hemingway.The film was written by Tim Clawson and was directed by Elliott Hong...
- Flower Drum SongFlower Drum Song (film)Flower Drum Song is a 1961 film adaptation of the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song, written by the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese American author C. Y...
- Bridge to the SunBridge to the SunBridge to the Sun is a 1961 film, directed by Etienne Périer, starring Carroll Baker, James Shigeta, James Yagi and Tetzuro Tamba. It is based on the 1957 autobiography Bridge To The Sun by Gwendolen Terasaki, which detailed events in Gwen's life and marriage.The memoir narrates the life of Gwen...
- The Crimson KimonoThe Crimson KimonoThe Crimson Kimono is a 1959 film noir directed by Samuel Fuller. The film stars James Shigeta, Glenn Corbett and Victoria Shaw.It featured several ahead-of-its-time ideas about race and society's perception of race, a thematic and stylistic trademark of Fuller.-Plot:The film is essentially about...
- The Steel HelmetThe Steel HelmetThe Steel Helmet is a war film directed by Samuel Fuller and produced by Lippert Studios during the Korean War. It was the first film about the war, and the first of several war films by producer-director-writer Fuller.-Plot:...
- The Replacement KillersThe Replacement KillersThe Replacement Killers is a 1998 American action film, directed by Antoine Fuqua in his directorial debut. It stars Chow Yun-fat and Mira Sorvino...
- Romeo Must DieRomeo Must DieRomeo Must Die is a 2000 martial arts film directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Starring Jet Li, Aaliyah, Anthony Anderson, Delroy Lindo, Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong, and features action and fight choreography by Corey Yuen...
- Dragon: The Bruce Lee StoryDragon: The Bruce Lee StoryDragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a 1993 American semi fictionalized biographical martial arts action film telling the story of actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee, starring Jason Scott Lee as Bruce Lee, Lauren Holly and Robert Wagner...
- Mortal KombatMortal Kombat (film)Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action and adventure film directed by Paul Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series...
See also
- Stereotypes of East Asians in the Western world
- Portrayal of East Asians in Hollywood
External links
- Official Site
- "Perpetuating the Yellow Peril" In These Times
- Mastropolo, F. Hollywood's Racial Catch-22, ABC News, September 27, 2006
- The Slanted Screen at IMDB