A film about culture clash and a family’s generational divide, "Beneath the Banyan Tree” gives equal time to several members of an extended family transplanted from China to contemporary Los Angeles.
Ai-Jia (Kathy Wu) has created a life for herself after leaving China and her family as a young woman. Now 35, she’s a struggling writer who supports herself as a city tour guide for Chinese visitors while trying to persevere through the slog of publication rejections. Ai-Jia lives with her boyfriend Vance in a spacious house. That’s upended when she gets word that her brother and sister-in-law have been jailed in China for some insider trading scheme and that her mother, Mrs. Woo (Ah Leh Chang Gua), along with teenage nephew Yu and niece Qi, are moving to LA and will be settling in with Ai-Jia. That sets the stage for some dramatic if predictable clashes of old world and new, and between controlling mother and independent daughter. They have never dealt with the trauma of husband and father Mr. Woo walking out on his family years ago.
Mrs. Woo, a painter, thinks her daughter is a successful writer. Of course, despite Vance’s gentlemanly best efforts, she also thinks he’s not good enough for Ai-Jia so there’s a scene of awkward matchmaking with the single restauranteur who owns the senior center where Mrs. Woo spends her days. Veteran actress Ah Leh Chang Gua, whose many credits include Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "The Wedding Banquet,” is a winning presence who manages to flesh out the familiar character.
Writer/director Nani Li Yang’s story at times echoes “The Farewell” as she shows the assorted characters struggling to adjust to familial and cultural expectations. The younger generation, Yu and Qi, are dealing with budding sexuality and high school. Qi has some affecting moments as she befriends the troubled boy next door and gets hurt by the mean hot guy at school. She turns on her brother and outs him as gay to the family which only exposes the pain both are wrestling with and unable to communicate.
The various storylines don’t always coalesce but "Beneath the Banyan Tree” boasts solid performances from the entire cast in a touching portrayal of a fractured family yearning to connect.
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