Tigertail

TIGERTAIL - NETFLIX

In Tigertail, Alan Yang — Master of None co-creator ­— has crafted an intimate and personal directorial debut feature. It tells the story of a Taiwanese factory worker who has to leave his homeland for a successful life in America, all at the cost of losing precious time with those close to him, amongst other things.

The preciousness and inevitability of time are the thematic ideas at the forefront of Tigertail, and the film spans several generations and timelines to communicate them effectively. Its narrative jumps back and forth from protagonist Grover’s teenage years working in a factory with his mother, to his old age, living a wealthy life in America. Yang succeeds greatly in crafting a story that is constantly moving, and developing in interesting and engaging ways. The editing is strong as the choices to cut and juxtapose the present with the past, or vice versa, particularly succeed in capturing the randomness of life.

Another one of its assets is that the film looks gorgeous. The Taiwan set flashbacks are shot in a grainy, genuine film stock-esque style, whilst modern day shots are suitably shiny and cool, perfectly capturing Grover found out-of-place within the world he has come to call his own. This isn’t for lack of trying, and though Grover has indeed benefited financially from pursuing the American Dream, it came at the cost of the things he once loved about his former life.

Grover reminisces about his past throughout the film, and Yang masterfully covers grounds of guilt, regret, loss and melancholy in the screenplay; it ordinarily might be cliched and repetitive, but gets the emotional and engaging edge due to his own heritage and personal connection with the material. Grover is clearly a well thought out character, and actor Tzi Ma skillfully radiates an incredible sadness through his eyes —  to do him justice. Grover has lived his life in hope for a better future for his children than he had for himself, but in leaving behind his homeland and family for the “promised land” where he’d achieve this, has become too damaged by guilt. As such, his family is distant, and he feels cold, torn between regret for leaving them behind, and optimism to settle happily in his present.

All in all, Tigertail is a successful version of the all-too common retrospective look at life, love and loss; it succeeds for its personal and intimate screenplay paired with bold, confident direction and expansive beautiful cinematography. Alan Yang has put a lot of heart into Tigertail, and act as an exciting promise to see where his career goes from such a strong debut.

TIGERTAIL is streaming exclusively on NETFLIX