A Grandson from America (2012)

A Grandson From America movie poster

Cast:

Jingming Luo, Jiaming Ding, Tianzuo Liu

Synopsis:

Old Yang is an artist living alone in Huazhou District, in Shanxi Province in China, he used to perform puppet show. One day, his son which he hasn’t seen for a long time came home with his foreign wife and grandson Brooks. Yang is in shock, but the parents have to leave for Hoh Xil, and leave Brooks with him. During that period, they have conflicts due to cultural differences. Yang makes an effort to build his relationship with his grandson, by the time Brooks has to go back to school, they became closer.

Review:

The movie focuses mainly on the cultural differences between the grandfather Yang and his grandson Brooks. Because of the age difference, and since it is the first time they meet, it is even harder for both of them.

From the beginning of the movie, Yang is in shock that his son brought home an American fiancée and a kid from her previous marriage.

During the time Yang and Brooks live together, Brooks is being a picky child and doesn’t want to eat noodles, instead he wants hamburger and milk which is nearly impossible to find in the Chinese rural area. But Yang still manages to make a Chinese hamburger and get the milk from a neighbor who has a cow.

Yang feels awkward that his grandson is not a traditional Chinese boy, so he takes Brooks to a barber shop to dye his hair black instead of blond.

Since Brooks has never been in a rural area in China, he is curious about the well which is used to get the water from underground. Brooks messed up Yang’s collections of the puppets and his walnuts and Yang accidentally stepped on Brook’s Spiderman toy.

But later, Yang makes a Spiderman using the puppet technique to make Brooks happy again.

As days passed by, the relationship between the grandfather and grandson is getting closer and closer.

Even though there are culture differences, age differences and language barriers, Yang and Brooks have a strong affection for each other when they finally have to separate.