Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

MOVIES Arvin Chen talks about rom-com 'Tomorrow'
Special to the online edition of Windy City Times by GARY M. KRAMER
2014-01-28

This article shared 2702 times since Tue Jan 28, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


A sweet and bittersweet romantic comedy-drama, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? features a handful of gay and straight characters in modern Taipei who are unhappy in their lives and relationships. Writer/director Arvin Chen displays a real sensitivity towards his hopeless and hapless romantics. In a recent email exchange and Skype interview, Chen spoke with Windy City Times about his fabulous new film.

Windy City Times: What prompted you to make a melancholic film about love and happiness with gay characters?

Arvin Chen: I'm not gay, though am often mistaken for gay. I don't think making this film helps. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and have had pretty close gay friends most of life. It's probably one of the reasons why I choose to make this movie in the first place. I haven't been married yet. I've been dumped, and been on the other side. It's identifiable.

WCT: Your film has an old-time "classic movie" feel to it—from the lush romantic score to the colorful art direction to the poignant Karaoke musical number that becomes magical-realist. Can you discuss your approach to the material?

ARVIN CHEN: We were trying to make old '50s melodramas/musicals set in modern Taipei. [The Todd Haynes movie] Far From Heaven is more melodrama; ours is goofy comedy, but that aesthetic works in this story. The colors, the music, the cinematography is much more of this older era. I found different tonal things to play with. Probably my favorite scenes in the movie are those where it's visually funny or magical-realist on the surface, but the actual underlying emotion is very melancholy, like in the Karaoke scene.

WCT: What can you say about how you depict the film's queer characters?

ARVIN CHEN: I tried to be sensitive in the portrayal of the gay characters. Several of the gay characters are directly modeled after friends of mine—down to their dialogue. That being said, I think there are definitely moments in the movie that could certainly fall into the category of stereotype. Stephen's more "flamboyant" but I wanted him to be a contrast to Weichung, who is obviously much more conservative. I always thought of Weichung as being 100-percent gay. His role as a heterosexual husband was completely a by-product of filial piety and societal pressure, which is sadly still quite prevalent in Asian societies.

WCT: Stephen's gay friends are practically indistinguishable. They function as a kind of Greek chorus. Likewise, Weichung's love interest, Thomas, seems slightly underdeveloped. Can you discuss these gay characters?

ARVIN CHEN: I think of Thomas as a fantasy character; he represents escape. I did want a Shakespearean chorus. Like Stephen, [his gay friends] are above the story, and happy with whom they are, dispensing advance rather than struggling with their own problems. Stephen is happiest in film—he knows exactly who he is, and he is completely realized as a person. He has no conflicts.

WCT: The characters all cope with change and instability when they find themselves at a crossroads. They all say they need to know their partners better, but they really need to find themselves. Why did this idea appeal for your story?

ARVIN CHEN: I didn't think if it thematically, but rather how three characters in a story struggle in this point in their lives. Weichung thinks he moved on from being gay, but that affects his wife's story: Does he love her? And what will she do when he can't love her? His sister is also struggling with commitment and her romance being compromised. The stories crisscrossed naturally. They are dealing with themes people can relate to, so they become thematically tied.

WCT: Did you cast queer actors in any of the gay roles?

ARVIN CHEN: There are not many openly gay actors in Asia. We had to worry about straight actors who wouldn't want to do the film. All the main characters playing gay are straight, with the exception of one or two supporting roles.

WCT: Can you talk about how you developed the film's wistful humor? You create comedy by playing with the characters' and audiences' expectations.

ARVIN CHEN: I guess it's just a principle of comedy in general. I try to find humor in situations that are not inherently funny, but I also try to find sadness in scenes that are not inherently sad. The way I approached it was just looking at individual scenes and trying not to intentionally make them funny or sad, but instead just thinking of how the characters would behave in that situation.

These characters live in a boring world, and have mundane jobs, but this film says that fantastical things could happen. I subvert the tropes of rom-coms by finding a fantasy in a scene that wouldn't be fantasy. I tried not to ever have it as [pure] comedy.

© 2014 Gary M. Kramer


This article shared 2702 times since Tue Jan 28, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29
Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29
- Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.