Year of the Fish Issue #37

By Erin DeJesus
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 9:46am

A classic fairy tale meets modern Chinatown in the Year Of the Fish, an ambitious offering from writer-director David Kaplan. Each frame is flooded in “Rotoscope”-style, which makes the film look like a moving painting; its young heroine becomes caught in complexities of the sex trade; fantastical elements happen in real time, not in veiled dream sequences. Unfortunately, it’s a modern-day Cinderella story with no modern themes.

Year Of the Fish follows 17-year-old Ye Xian (An Nguyen), an illegal immigrant forced to work in a New York City “massage parlor.” When she refuses to turn tricks, she becomes the house servant, scrubbing floors and tending to her magical goldfish, a gift from a mysterious fortune-teller. And just as in the old-fashioned tale, Ye Xian waits around for a man to save her — but until Prince Charming arrives, she relies on dumb luck to push her along her way.

It’s irritating, but the glaring lack of a strong-willed female heroine isn’t the film’s only problem; the lack of authenticity becomes distracting. All the characters, including new-to-the-country Ye Xian, speak perfect English — odd for a part of town where most Chinese rarely break from their native tongue. Some roles — Asian immigrants, Jewish tourists — are downright caricatures. And sadly, the film fails to explore the very-real daily tragedy that forced sex workers endure. Apparently, as long as there’s a prince to sweep you off your feet, a happy ending is inevitable — no pun intended.

—