Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words (2013) Poster

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9/10
Made in a very cinematic, interesting way! Not boring!
MyMovieTVRomance1 May 2024
This was so well made, I'm surprised at how low rated it is. It was very innovative in the way that it had somebody acting as Anna May Wong telling her story, in the real Anna May's words. It really brought her to life, as though she was still here.

In addition to this, there is footage of the actual Anna May throughout her career interspersed into this documentary, along with live commentary from people who knew her, as well as those who have studied her.

This documentary was short, less than 60 minutes long, but jam packed with everything that will have you feel like you knew her by the end. Well done!

Side note: The actress who plays Anna May Wong in this film kept reminding me of Joan Jett! Something about her eyes, and the shape of her mouth. The way that she moved her eyes and mouth, it reminds me of my Joanie. Joan is not even Asian, she's caucasian, but sometimes she does have an Asian look about her. That being said, even Whoopi Goldberg has also reminded me of Joan at some points. Everywhere I look, I see her face, to quote one of Joan Jett's own songs!

Put another way, I definitely am drawn to the actress that plays Anna May Wong in this lovely documentary. Anything that can remind me of my girl Joanie, I'm happy with. And it's a revelation, to see that what I love about Joan transcends the races - every ethnicity, every sort of person, if they are anything like my girl at all, I will spot it. I love you, Joanie! 😘💞

Oh, and I just remembered - I was thinking about my girl the minute that the person playing Anna May mentioned being a fatalist, because that's the exact word Joan used during one of her interviews, when she was asked whether she was a pragmatist or a fatalist, i believe. She said that she was mainly a fatalist. And she's one of the only people I had ever heard use that word to refer to themselves, until now. Like I said, if there's anything about something that is anything like my girl, I will spot it! And this documentary is probably one that she would like too!
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Wong Fans Will Want to Watch
Michael_Elliott12 June 2013
Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words (2013)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This documentary is rather unique in its own way but it still isn't quite as good as one would hope. Director and writer Yunah Hong spends just under a hour going through the life and career of Anna May Wong, a talented and beautiful actress that many felt should have been a star but wasn't because of her race. The documentary follows her earliest days all the way up to her death and the various film highlights of her career. What makes this unique is that we're given the typical documentary type talking heads but Hong takes it a step further by having actress Doan Ly playing Wong and speak as her through letters she had written in her life. Anna May Wong certainly needs a great documentary done on her and while this one here contains some interesting and even good moments, it falls just short of being good. I think the one problem with the film is the actress playing Wong and talking for her. I really didn't think this added anything to the documentary and at times it just comes across a little silly. I think just having someone narrated her "own words" would have been more effective and less theatrical. The actress playing the part did a fine job but it just wasn't needed. The best stuff about this documentary deals with Wong's days in the silent cinema and how she ended up going to Germany to try and become a star. Hearing the effect that the Production Code had on non-white actors was also quite interesting. Fans of the actress will certainly want to check this one out but just a few minor switches and this could have been much better.
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