Netflix film Tigertail, writer and director Alan Yang’s ‘coming to America’ story starring Tzi Ma, is loosely based on his own father’s journey
- Emmy Award winner Alan Yang’s story is based on his father’s experience of leaving Taiwan for the US
- It’s a tale of broken dreams, lost love, and a coming together of father and daughter
A rundown flat, a loveless marriage and a life far different from that seen in the movies. It’s an American dream capable of turning a young, free-spirited Taiwanese factory worker into a shell of himself, and it’s the core story of Alan Yang’s debut feature Tigertail, which is now streaming on Netflix.
“I think it’s trying to take a realistic look, and not trying to necessarily always paint [it] as a fairy tale, where you come to America and all your problems are solved and everything is OK,” says the co-producer of US comedy-drama Master of None .
Loosely based on the life of Yang’s father, Tigertail revolves around Pin Jui, who was raised by his grandparents on a farm while his widowed mother worked in a factory. “In fact, the real-life situation was even harder; he had two brothers and everyone in the village told his mother to give him up for adoption,” says 36-year-old Yang.
Taiwanese heartthrob Lee Hong-chi (Cities of Last Things) plays the young Pin Jui, a suave young man who falls in love with his childhood friend. The older, disillusioned Pin Jui is portrayed by Tzi Ma (Mulan).
“He was kind of an admirer of American culture,” Ma says. “He always wanted to go there, but how he got there was not what he had in mind.”
