Buy Happy Birthday on DVD

Happy Birthday

DVD

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$9.99

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Synopsis

A superb debut film from director Yen Tan with gay and lesbian characters, first-rate performances and a powerful message.

Review

Malaysian-born Yen Tan's Happy Birthday is an amazingly assured drama centering around five very different people who share the same birthday as well as varying problems of self-acceptance, family tensions and unrequited love. There is Kelly, a young lesbian whose recent breakup with her lover causes regret and retrospection, especially for her continuing crush on her college roommate; Jim, a gay, overweight telemarketer (for a weight loss program) whose success at selling diet pills masks his low self-esteem and sadness; Ron, a minister who enthusiastically preaches the ability to switch from being gay to straight, all the while privately watching gay porn; Javed, a Pakistani from an Islamic family who is now living in the States with his American lover (a gay porn actor) but faces deportation and returns to his estranged family; and Tracy, a Taiwanese-born former student whose visit by her conservative mother forces her to hide her lesbianism.

As their birthdays near, all five are forced to face the demons that stifle their lives. A fascinating, at times familiarly unsettling, look at issues facing people in general and gays and lesbians in particular as they attempt to navigate the rapid waters of life. (English, Mandarin, Urdu & Spanish with English subtitles)

Winner Grand Jury Prize "Best Feature" - Philadelphia Intl Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Winner New Directors Showcase - Portland LGBT Showcase
Official Selection - Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival

-- Raymond Murray

Awards

2002 Grand Jury Prize — 2002 Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2005 Director's Showcase for Best Film — 2002 Portland Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Media Quotes

A well-acted, intelligent acheivement mixing gay and lesbian issues wiht personal issues of love and acceptance. — Dallas Voice

Product Format Information

DVD : $9.99

Availability: In stock and ready to ship
Region Code: 1
UPC: 807839000504

Studio : TLA Releasing

Languages: English Dolby Digital Stereo (Primary)
Features:
Audio commentary: Director's commentary
Documentaries: making-of featurette

Customer Reviews

Simply Interesting

Amos Lassen wrote on 02/14/2011:

“Happy Birthday”
Simply Interesting
Amos Lassen
For a debut film, Yen Tan’s “Happy Birthday” is provocative but with flaws. It is composed of a shifting narrative which centers on five gay/lesbian characters who all share a common birthday. The film looks at the darkest issues that each character deals with. There are so
me excellent performances here and the story s both diverse and detailed, totally real and a powerful attempt t show us something deeper than the typical shallow themes we have had to deal with.
Underlying the film are the sub themes of self-esteem and self-hatred, cultural clashes with religious and ethnic differences, how we see our bodies as well as gay immigrants. The actors often perform self-examination with an intensity that is in no way subtle. This makes the film appear t be something of a soap opera.
Honesty is the key word here—the characters are totally believable. The five stories that are presented are usual in context but moving nonetheless. The movie is not optimistic in any way and only one of the five character’s story shows any promise of resolution. None of the five have a happy ending. The music also adds to the mood—it is beautiful but full of sorrow.
I totally could identify with the movie. It made me remember wasted chances ad how things have turned out in my life. Events seem to determine the course our lives take. What director Yen Tan gives us is a thoughtful look into what makes up the homosexual psyche.
The usual clichés and stereotypes are there but the feelings of the amateur cast are all real. I found myself cheering for the characters as they went through some rough periods and I shared their sadness as well.
I actually felt that I was watching three days in the lives of five different people. Watching real life is never easy and watching the actors here was a very real experience.
Simply beautiful and very interesting is a movie that we all should see and think about. Watching the actors inspect themselves causes us to do the same and there could be a reward in that.