DRAGON CHOW
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1989 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis: In modern West Germany, a young man from Pakistan, a "gastarbeiter" or guest worker, tries to gain legal residence. He eventually gets an illegal job in a Chinese restaurant. Later he and a Chinese waiter from the restaurant try to open their own restaurant. A human interest story detailing the difficulties faced by guest workers in Germany; a good (but not great) film.
West Germany (English subtitles), black-and-white, 1988, 75 minutes. Director/Writer: Jan Schutte
The film is centered on Shezad, a personable young man from Pakistan, who is in Hamburg, West Germany, trying to gain legal residence via political asylum. He is receiving welfare while his application is being processed. He lives with his friend Rashid, also from Pakistan and also applying for political asylum. They live in a seedy "welfare hotel," with immigrants and guest workers from other third world countries.
Eventually, with the help of a con man, Shezad gets an illegal job at a second-rate Chinese restaurant. The restaurant is owned by a Chinese man; the staff includes a Chinese waiter, Shezad and two other guest workers for kitchen help, and a tyrannical German cook. The cook has a very high opinion of himself and his cooking, and is very critical of his kitchen staff; he frequently refers to them as "wops."
Shezad and the Chinese waiter, Xiao, become friends. They share a common dream - to open their own restaurant. Xiao can satisfy the all the regulations necessary to open a restaurant under the German Restaurant Law, save one - the requirement of 5000 marks capital. Shezad and Xiao team up to pursue their dream of owning a restaurant, and the story continues from there.
This film appears to have been done on a low-budget, and is mostly a human relations study. It principally deals with the aspirations of third- world immigrants and guest workers in West Germany. These immigrants are depicted as forming a lower (economic) class, with limited interaction with German society; a society that is indifferent and sometimes hostile to them.
The major attraction of the film is the characters; as the film progresses you begin to identify with the main characters and understand the difficult situation they face. Gaining legal residence in West Germany is difficult; many apply but few are chosen.
Overall, this is a good film (it has won many awards at film festivals all over the world). However, it has a slow pace and is oriented towards human relations; it is not an "action" film.
Print Source: New Yorker Films; no information available on release plans.
Reviewer: Thomas E. Billings, Department of Statistics University of California, Berkeley Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU
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