Drawing on both American and Chinese traditions of storytelling, writer and director Daniel Hsia’s debut film, “Shanghai Calling,” is a twist on the traditional immigrant tale. A story of “internationalism on the individual scale,” the film aims to demystify China for American audiences through comedy, romance and the allure of Shanghai itself.
The rom-com centers on Sam Chow (Daniel Henney), a second-generation Chinese-American who believes he is about to be made a partner at his New York law firm. Instead, he is sent to China to run the firm’s Asian office. Sam arrives in Shanghai, a city of growth, change and internationalism, where his arrogance and condescension quickly alienate the welcoming locals who try to help him. After a legal disaster that threatens to ruin his career, Sam realizes that the only way he can make things right is with the help of the very people he pushed away.
Along the way, Sam finds love and a new attitude toward life, but he also faces challenges that any American expat would find familiar. He struggles with language, traditions and the unfamiliarity of being uprooted. Hsia stressed the difficulty many Americans have with the stigma of being an immigrant.
“Americans tend to call themselves expats rather than immigrants, even though the people who come from the exact same places call themselves immigrants when they come to the United States,” Hsia said. “The label of expat is a little more comfortable because it means it’s not exactly a permanent situation … I still retain my American identity; I can go back anytime I want. The fact of the matter is, the majority of expats living in China are living among Chinese, they’re learning Chinese and their kids go to international schools … They’re really living the immigrant life, and it’s a really interesting paradigm shift because you don’t really think about Americans becoming immigrants.”
Although the film focuses on its American protagonist, “Shanghai Calling” was made to be, “enjoyable and authentic to both Chinese and Western audiences,” according to producer Janet Yang. Yang, who has worked for years bringing Chinese films to America and vice versa, hopes the light-heartedness of the film will open American audiences to seeing China in a new way.
“If I’m going to break some barriers with this cross-cultural thing, I have to make it very accessible,” Yang said. “If the whole point of making (a film) is to change people’s perceptions or to give them a taste of something, then you want people to go and have a good time. Most people think of China as being so grim and serious, but it’s actually a lot of fun too.”
Leading man Daniel Henney is no stranger to breaking barriers. Asian Americans have long been underrepresented in film, but Henney is optimistic about the future of minorities on screen.
“I grew up in Michigan, and I never had a role model on television that I could relate to, lookswise,” recalled Henney. “The people who were (on TV) were martial artists; they were speaking with an accent that I couldn’t understand … The fact that I am where I am… it says a lot for where we’re going … There are a lot of cool Asian guys out there, and we can do it too.”
With its slew of characters and eccentric sense of humor, “Shanghai Calling” bubbles over with the energy of the city it celebrates. The blend of American and Chinese sensibilities underlines the internationalism the film promotes while unexpectedly toying with the conventions of the typical “fish out of water” story.