San Diego Asian Film Foundation
watching Curtis Choy's documentary about this enigmatic and
often cranky Renaissance man, I'm still not quite sure. One
thing certain is that Frank Chin can be quite insufferable.
Given the opportunity, he will ruffle anyone's feathers and do
so boisterously and ever so poetically. You're not sure
whether to love or hate him.
Though he's been vilified and deified by many that have
crossed his path, he still comes across as someone extremely
likeable if not impossible. In his often revealing and
enlightening documentary, filmmaker Curtis Choy is given
unprecedented access to his subject's thoughts, gripes, fears,
and neuroses. At times, we are allowed a fly's POV where we
sit afar and spy on Chin while he slouches in front of his word
processor, pondering seemingly forever about what to write
next. He seems spaced out when he's not spewing rhetoric.
It's those precious moments that you actually feel most
connected to this man. It's the quiet somber solitude, the
pauses between the rants and raves that ring most true.
It's too bad he's mostly known for his big mouth. Even during
a seemingly ordinary town hall meeting, Chin comes across as
captivating and charismatic, imbuing his speech with flair and
showmanship. I've come to realize that nothing seems
ordinary about Frank Chin. His life is a big show.
Like all good docs that strive to reveal certain insights and
truths about their subject matters, there's a prerequisite
respect that must exist between the filmmaker and his subject.
It's no surprise that Choy and Chin are old partners in crime.
Like his subject's persona, Choy injects his film with a frantic
and frazzled sense of editing and pacing, rising and falling
along with Chin's journey of outbursts through Asian American
History. You're never quite sure what Chin's going to do or
say next. Similarly, the film seems to twist and turn in
synchrony, almost kicking and screaming. By thoughtfully
intersplicing interviews with historical footage, what amazed
me was how far and deep Frank Chin has participated in
Asian American History, and yet, he's not a household name.
What's up with that?
Everyone's heard of Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Fa
Mulan and yet, who's ever heard of Frank Chin? For me,
watching "What's Wrong With Frank Chin?" was like taking a
crash course in Asian American Studies, which, I'm
embarrassed to say, I managed to ditch or avoid completely
during my five years at UCLA. I walked away with a new
appreciation and curiousity for our own history, our struggles,
our Cause, and our elusive identity.
Suffice to say that personally, this documentary has
unexpectedly turned out to be the most Asian-American film of
all the Asian-American films that I've seen in the last 5 years.
It needs to be required viewing for all Asian-American Studies
majors.
Having said all this, I'm still wondering what the heck's wrong
with Frank Chin.
by John Charles Goshert
(2002)
Western Writers Series No. 155
Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
