The heroine and the heroine's mother are both deviant people in Chinese society. One is les, a 48-year-old unmarried pregnant. These are acceptable to everyone in mainstream American society, but they are outrageous in traditional Chinese communities.
There is another kind of Chinese in the movie. Although the father of the heroine's lover (the old husband-in-law) is also a Chinese, he doesn't have much objection to Les' behavior. The whole film conveys the conflict between Chinese Westernization and traditional concepts.
But is Westernization a good thing at all? What is conveyed in the film is an idealized Western-style community where everyone does not interfere with each other. But it fails to paint a picture of the alienated side of people in Western-style communities. Too much connection can bring inconvenience, but too much separation can also bring loneliness.
Can tradition and westernization reach a balance?
View more about Saving Face reviews
