Hollywood is gearing up for the 95th Academy Awards this weekend, and all eyes are on “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the zany, modestly-budgeted but ambitious sci-fi film that has dominated awards season.
Directed by the directing duo known as the Daniels, Daniel Kwon and Daniel Scheiner, the film combines an intergenerational family drama, multiversal science fiction adventure, absurdist comedy and martial arts action. It also stars a majority Asian cast, with Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and James Wong along for the ride, making its 11 Oscar nominations particularly significant.
The success of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” both at the box office and among awards bodies, is another “breakthrough” in Hollywood’s slow acceptance of Asian and Asian American cinema, says Denise Khor, associate professor of Asian American studies and visual studies at Northeastern University. The film, which centers Evelyn (Yeoh), a Chinese immigrant laundromat owner, and Joy (Hsu), her first generation daughter, and the infinite versions of them throughout the multiverse, has also reignited a conversation about the struggles Asian actors have faced throughout Hollywood history.
“It is very monumental, but why it’s monumental––that conversation that we’re having around the film is a conversation that has been had since the beginning of cinema,” Khor says.
Khor acknowledges Hollywood has made some progress in terms of representing and celebrating Asian cinema in recent years. “Parasite,” a South Korean thriller, won best picture in 2019, and films like the South Korean immigrant drama “Minari” have been nominated for the Oscar’s top prize. And blockbuster films with all Asian casts like “Crazy Rich Asians” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi…
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