@greenflashlight said in Good or New Movies Review:
Do you know if he's especially fluent in English? I couldn't help noticing that for any scene in Shang-Chi that called for him to really emote, he switched back to (Cantonese, right?), which made me wonder if it was a stylistic choice the writers made, or if the director has helping him play to his strengths as an actor.
Tony Leung is fairly fluent in English, but -- and I am not accusing you or anyone here of anything -- that question is considered racist in Asian-American circles.
I think it's important to point out that, no matter the actor's fluency, Wenwu is definitely Chinese. In the movie, his dialogue is Mandarin, not Cantonese. This is because Cantonese is actually a rare dialect in China, even though it is fairly common in North America. This is because the affluent wave of Chinese immigrants who fled China during the Cultural Revolution were predominantly from southern China, where Cantonese is spoken.
So, why is the question racist?
Because it's not about the actor. Ronny Chieng, for instance, is fluent in English and Chinese, but his character talks to Shang-Chi and Katy in English. Why? Because what he is saying is not important. Contrast this with Leung, who speaks to his family and on important matters in Chinese. Why? Because when you are among family or talking about important things which might lose nuance, you speak in Chinese, even if you are fluent in English. This is a cultural thing.
So, it's about the moment.
Many people presume that a Chinese person speaks in Chinese because they are not fluent in English. This is not always the case. In business, the Chinese teach themselves English and are far more fluent than people expect; however, they may use an interpreter because they want to make sure the nuance of Chinese is translated properly into English. Part of this is not wanting to look silly; the other part is to not disrespect the listener by saying something accidentally offensive.
So, to me, this was a directorial choice, and a very good one.
I'm not fluent in Mandarin, but I've been told that the subtitles do not do the nuances of the language justice. Here's an article about that.