Daughter of the Dragon and Mon Oncle Antoine

By Victor Karanja

The Daughter of the Dragon & Mon Oncle Antoine

By Victor Karanja

1. How is the story told?
The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
This story is linear from beginning to end. The episodes that shift our focus from Ling Moy, Fu Manchu and the Petrie family are all interconnected into a storyline that has a clear beginning and an end. Perhaps the confusing bit, which may separate the scenes into unrelated episodes happen when Ling Moy is told of her father. The subsequent scene is at the Scotland Yard offices where they are discussing the re-emergence of Fu Manchu. These scenes are episodical but the connection between them in the storyline happens so soon and the story resumes a linear mode. The story is both linear and episodical. In the beginning, the story is about Joe Poulin and his tribulations under an English boss at the Asbestos company. The episodes in this first section of the story do not seem to connect with Benoit at the morgue where his uncle Antoine prepares a dead body (Euclid) for burial. Within related episodes the story assumes a linear mode where the storyline progresses from beginning to end. It is not until we see Joe leaving for home on Christmas day that a linear connection is established between the episodes. Jumping from Joe’s subplot back to Benoit is what really makes the story episodical, otherwise it is linear with a storyline that begins with Benoit at his uncle’s shop, his observations and finally his unpleasant visit (with Uncle Antoine and later with Fernard) to the Poulin family home to collect the dead body of their son. The re-emergence of Joe Poulin at the end is not really episodical because he has already been connected into the main storyline and the events are flowing linearly.
Comparison – how the story is told: Both stories combine linear and episode modes of storytelling. But the episodic scenes are more evident in Mon Oncle Antoine because the storyline begins as two subplots; one revolves around Benoit at his Uncle Antoine’s shop and the other revolves around Joe Poulin and his work frustrations at the asbestos company and finally as he loses his eldest son through sickness. Later on the two subplots seem to connect as one major storyline and thus linear. The Daughter of the Dragon is mostly linear and the few episodes that seem unrelated were in the beginning when Ling Moy is anxious to meet her father. When it becomes clear that her father is Fu Manchu, the man Scotland Yard is discussing in the “seemingly” unrelated episode, then the storyline becomes one long story told linearly.

2. Plot
The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
Ling Moy, a beautiful Chinese dancer, is caught in a dangerous loop that involves love triangles, obedience to a vengeful father and a desire to fulfil her father’s murderous mission. The movie was shot in London, UK.

Ling Moy led an ordinary life as a dancer in a popular London club. She lives in the same neighbourhood with important personalities that include Sir John Petrie, his wife, his son Ronald and a servant. Also in the neighbourhood is Ah Kee, a Scotland Yard agent, whose main task is to provide security services to Sir John Petrie and family. The plot revolves around another neighbour, Fu Manchu, a feared Chinese doctor, who the Scotland believed died 20 years ago but has resurfaced. Fu Manchu has a deep grudge with the Petries (he believes they had a hand in the death of his family) and all he wants is to eliminate the whole Petrie family. The plot thickens when Ling Moy discovers that Fu Manchu is her father.

Ling Moy is so attractive that Ronald Petrie and Ah Kee are unable to resist her charm. But the plot revolves more on the murderous episodes than the love triangles. Fu Manchu manages to get into Sir Petrie’s study unnoticed, poisons his snuff, awaits the snuff to take effect and leads him to a suicidal fall from atop the stairs in his own house in full view of the Scotland Yard officers. Despite being shot by The Scotland Yard officers, Fu Manchu manages to escape.

When the recovering (from gun shots) Fu Manchu is introduced to his daughter Ling Moy, he bestows on her the task of completing the murderous mission on the remaining Petries. To bring Ronald to his death, Fu Manchu stage manages an attack on Ling Moy in the hope that it will attract help from Ronald Petrie and other neighbours; this would give Ling Moy an opportunity to kill Ronald. Things turn out differently and Fu Manchu is finally murdered by the Scotland Yard agents, this time for real. Another opportunity to kill Ronald in his sleep was hatched by Fu Manchu’s servants but Ling Moy is not bold enough to do it. In all these attempts on Ronald’s life, Ah Kee is in the picture and is doing his best to protect Ronald. He is also smitten with Ling Moy and this provides some conflict.

Fu Manchu’s servants finally prevail on Ling Moy to accomplish her father’s murderous mission. She entices Ah Kee into her mansion, entertains him as her servants arrest and tie up Ronald and Mrs Petrie. The plan is to poison Ah Kee’s wine and finally stab Ronald to death in an adjoining room. Ah Kee wakes up from his “love slumber” and discovers the murderous scene he is in. But it is too late as he gets accosted by Fu Manchu’s servants and is tied up. In the meantime, Ling Moy and her gang have been accosted by Scotland Yard agents before accomplishing their murderous mission and are on the run. The whole house is encircled by Scotland Yard Agents. Ling Moy is about to stab one Scotland agent to make good her escape when Ah Kee (he had just got himself untied) shoots her dead. This is the only woman Ah Kee loved; he is so distraught that the movie ends with him lying beside the dead body of Ling Moy. He “decides” to die with his love beside him. Shot in a Quebec mining town, this movie tells the story of Benoit, a 14 year old orphan who lives with his uncle Antoine and Aunt Cecile (Mrs. Antoine). Antoine and Cecile own the only store in the small town and Antoine is also the only undertaker in town. Also in the plot are Fernard, Antoine’s assistant and Carmen, the young beautiful store clerk.
The subplot is characterized by Joe Poulin who works in an Asbestos mining company and later leaves due to a disagreement with his English boss. Joe opts to try his luck in the logging industry far away from home.

It is Christmas time. The owner of the asbestos company is dishing out cheap gifts door to door. The townspeople assemble at Uncle Antoine’s shop where the nativity scene is re-enacted and real celebrations are held. As they drink and sing, the fun is cut short by Mrs. Poulin’s phone call; she has lost her eldest son Mercel and Antoine (the undertaker) has to go collect the body. Young Benoit offers to accompany his uncle Antoine to the Poulin’s house to collect the body using the horse and its carriage. It is snowing and what seems to astound Benoit is that his uncle drinks heavily until they reach the Poulin’s house. On their way back with the body, Antoine gets too drunk, drives the horses crazy and the casket drops off carriage. In his drunken stupor, Antoine tells Benoit of his frustrations; his wife’s inability to bear him children, his desire to buy a hotel in the United States, his dislike of the undertaking business and his desire to lead a different life if only his wife cooperated. Benoit is so stressed with his uncle’s inability to help reload the casket onto the carriage that he decides to drive him home and seek help from Fernard. Upon arriving home, Benoit finds his Aunt Cecile and Fernard on the couch cuddling. This adds to the many confounding things Benoit has witnessed in his young life. During the brief stint he falls asleep awaiting Fernard to get ready for the return journey, Benoit dreams of the many fantasies he has been through at the store including his infatuation with Carmen and his amusement at watching a naked lady in the changing room. The casket had been moved back to the Poulin’s house (presumably by Joe on his way home) and when Benoit and Fernard arrive there, they find the whole family including Joe, who had come home for Christmas, surrounding the dead boy’s body. It appears they are celebrating the death of their son while everyone else is celebrating the birth of Christ. This contrast makes the movie end in an even sadder note.
Throughout the film, young Benoit observes the frustrations and vulnerability of his uncle Antoine, his immorality of his Aunt and Fernard, his own infatuation with Carmen, his Aunt’s infidelity with Fernard and the strange behaviour of the adults in his life. This is life seen through the eyes of a 14 year old through to young adulthood in a poor town in Quebec.

Comparison between the two plots: The two movies have more differences than similarities. The first notable difference is that while “The daughter of the Dragon” is shot in a big city (London, England), “Mon Oncle Antoine is shot in a remote Asbestos-mining town in Quebec, Canada. On the similarities side, Benoit, the main character in Mon Oncle Antoine, is an orphan living with his uncle Antoine. Ling Moy is technically an orphan until her father Fu Manchu resurfaces after 20 years of assumed death. Benoit is dealing with life’s challenges including sexuality, morality, alcoholism, death and adult behaviour; on the other hand, Ling Moy is dealing with a scary life of murder, love, revenge and blind obedience. The father figures in both movies share some similarities. Uncle Antoine is the most prominent personality in the little town while Fu Manchu is the feared doctor in London. Fu Manchu was, until he discovered his daughter, a childless man; Uncle Antoine does not have children of his own until he took in Benoit, his nephew. Both Uncle Antoine and Fu Manchu are bitter men in life; the former hates his work as undertaker and is bitter because his wife Cecile did not cooperate in his desire to move to the United States to run a hotel. Fu Manchu is bitter with the Petrie family for their alleged hand in the disappearance of his own family in Hong kong. There is death in both movies and both endings are tragic and pathetic. Mon Oncle Antoine ends on a Christmas day at Joe’s family where, instead of celebrating Christmas, they were moaning the death of their eldest son. The daughter of the Dragon ends with the death of Ling Moy and presumably the only man who loved her for real, Ah Kee.

3. What is the conflict in the Plot and how is it resolved?
The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
There are several conflicts in this movie but the main one involves Ling Moy. She is a harmless beautiful oriental dancer who must admit to continue her father’s murderous desire to eliminate the Petrie family. She experiences a conflict of conscience when the first real opportunity to kill Ronald Petrie in his sleep occurs. She is still unable to kill Ronald and his mother near the end of the movie despite the fact that Ah Kee, the Scotland Yard agent, was temporarily incapacitated at the time. Ah Kee is also experiencing conflict; the woman he loves is the daughter of the murderer (Fu Manchu) he loathes deeply.
Ling Moy’s conflict is resolved painfully through her own death. And who kills her? Ah Kee, the man who has expressed a genuine desire to marry her. Ah Kee is wearing two hats in this story; Ah Kee, the Scotland yard agent who shoots Ling Moy, the criminal, as she attempts to stab another Scotland agent, and Ah Kee, the guy who has fallen in love with Ling Moy. It is not surprising that he feels so distraught by his shooting act that he collapses beside her dying body. The major conflict in this movie revolves around Benoit and his boyhood experiences. He is an orphan living with a childless uncle. The other conflict involves Joe Poulin.
Benoit is getting conflicting meanings and interpretations of life events at his uncle Antoine’s house. To begin with, he is here because he is an orphan. He has no choice but to work with dead bodies – a little scary for a 14 year-old. As a naughty boy, Benoit views the naked body of a woman in the shops changing room and also touches Carmen’s breasts in a move that provokes thoughts about his own sexuality. Things become more conflicting in his mind when Benoit finds Fernard cuddling Auntie Cecile on the couch. Benoit is constantly on the receiving end of life’s experiences; his uncle Antoine pours his life’s frustrations on him as they head back from the Poulin’s home. Joe Poulin’s conflicts are worse; he escaped death through toxic Asbestos only to lose his son while far away in the logging fields.
It is not clear how Benoit resolves his conflicts Things seem to get more complicated as he grows up and one can say he “confusedly” grew up. Uncle Antoine seems to resolve his conflicts through drowning in alcoholism. Having Benoit may be a resolution to his childlessness.
Comparison: Conflicts and their resolutions: The main characters Ling Moy and Benoit have resolved their conflicts very differently. Ling Moy dies but Benoit just continues to grow up. The father figures in the movie also resolve their conflicts differently; Fu Manchu dies to entrap Ronald Petrie to his death while Antoine drowns his sorrows through excessive drinking. Joe Poulin, a main character too in Mon Oncle Antoine resolves his conflict by resigning from work at the asbestos company while Ah Kee in the Daughter of the Dragon has problem resolving his. He remains true to his calling as a Scotland Yard agent and at the same time remains true to his love, Ling Moy, at the hour of her death.
The similarities I find in the two movies regarding conflict resolution revolve around death. Ling Moy had to die at the end of the movie. Joe Poulin returned home for Christmas to find his son had died while he was away. The two movies end with death scenes.

1. How does the film cue particular reactions on the part of the viewers
2. Sound
3. Editing
4. Characterization
5. Camera movement, etc.?
6. Why does the film encourage such reactions?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
This movie creates suspense and fear. The viewer knows something must go wrong and all he or she awaits is how. Looking at Fu Manchu, one knows he is going to kill Sir Petrie. The viewer is encouraged to view Fu Manchu as a terrible guy. Ah Kee is the other bad guy because he kills Ling Moy. Ling Moy is also bad because she is set to kill the Petries.
It is not by coincidence here that all the killers are visibly Chinese. The portrayal of Asian characters as bad guys is very visible in this movie. This movie looks natural. It looks like a documentary of the real life of poor Quebecois in a remote town in the early 20th century. It tells a story of the life of an ordinary boy and his observations through boyhood into adulthood.
But there is a portrayal of the English people as the bad guys. Coincidentally, the English and Americans owned the tocix Asbestos industries in Quebec and their treatment of the French Quebecois was not very kind.
The movie evokes a hatred feeling for the English people because their industries are killing people (Euclid). Their treatment of Joe Poulin led to his resignation; he found work too far away that he could not respond to an emergency involving his son’s illness.

Comparison: Sound, editing, characterization and camera movement

It is ironic that while the Asians are depicted by the Westerners as the bad guys in the Daughter of the dragon, the English in Mon Oncle Antoine are the loathed industrialists in Quebec. Both movies tell the story of two children who are orphaned differently; Benoit is orphaned for real but his uncle has taken him in responsibly. Ling Moy has been orphaned for 20 years but the dad she meets (her real dad) is not nurturing her into life but is putting her in a murderous scheme that endangers her life. There is deliberate attempt to characterize Asian fathers as irresponsible (they put their kids into murderous schemes).

7. Describe the setting as realistic or stylistic.
8. What atmosphere does the setting suggest?
9. Describe how particular objects or settings serve symbolic functions.

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
This movie is realistic. It depicts Ling Moy as an ordinary woman who obeys the wishes of her father. The setting suggests an atmosphere of tension, fear, ruthlessness, blind obedience and love. The Chinese dragon in Fu Manchu’s house is symbolic of Chinese power and spirituality. The setting in the Petrie family home is symbolic of the English power and influence; the titles are suggestive of this power too, e.g. Sir Petrie.
Another symbolic setting is realized when Ling Moy and Ah Kee (two visible Orientals) talk about returning home to China. These are two middle class people who seem not to be doing badly in London, yet they are talking about returning home to China. This movie is realistic all through. It reflects the actual lifestyle in a poor Quebec city where the townspeople rely on one shop, one undertaker and one toxic company. The setting suggests a pathetic atmosphere of townspeople so poor that their main means of transportation is horse carriage. They cannot even afford a decent suit to bury their dead with – everything is hired at Uncle Antoine. At the beginning of the movie, we see Euclid’s body covered with a rented suit that is removed for reuse, and a rosary which is also removed for re-use before internment. The rosary is symbolic of the Catholicism that engulfed most of Quebec in the early 20th century


Comparison: Realistic/stylistic, atmosphere and symbolism

Both movies are realistic. The major difference is that while Mon Oncle Antoine is about poor people struggling in a remote Quebec town, the daughter of the Dragon is about the rich and powerful in a large city, London. Both movies make use of religious symbols; a rosary in Mon Oncle Antoine and the shrine of the dragon in the daughter of the dragon. Another contrast involves the atmosphere; Mon Oncle Antoine is relaxed and is full of lifestyle stuff while the Daughter of the dragon is about murder, sexuality and revenge.

10. What does their clothing or make-up reveal about their social standing, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or age?
11. How are the characters costumed and made-up?
12. How do costume and make-up convey character?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
Ling Moy in her dancing attire looks sexy and attractive. This changes as soon as she takes instructions from her father to pursue the Petries. She begins to wear Chinese clothes that make her look authoritative and more serious when addressing her father’s servants. Fu Manchu is dressed to look rough and scary. He wears a traditional Chinese robe complete with trousers. He has the cunning oriental look that makes him look even scarier. His servants are dressed to look meek like monks and are in uniform.
Sir Petrie and his family are dressed European (black suits and white shirts complete with bow tie). They look respectable and it is hard to believe they had a hand in killing Fu Manchu’s family.
Ah Kee is very smart in a suit; he looks well educated and one can tell he does a respectable job.
The main character Benoit in his simple shirt and pants looks like an innocent little boy. Joe Poulin looks rough and vocal. His soiled clothes and the swearing as he fixes the truck project the image of a rebellious man. When he wears tattered clothes and carries an axe heading for the logging company, he looks even poorer. Uncle Antoine, Cecile, Fernard and Carmen look middle class in their attire.
Joe Poulin’s English boss at the asbestos company wears official dress pants and a hat reminiscent of a person wielding power. His demeanor combined with dress convey authority.

Comparison: Costumes and Character
Regarding costumes and character, the contrasts are easier to pick out. In the daughter of the dragon, every character except Fu Manchu’s servants are above middle class. The Petries wear Black dress pants and white shirts to match; they are wealthy. Fu Manchu wears official Chinese dress that makes him look powerful and ruthless. Ling Moy and Ah Kee are well above middle class according to dress code. However, in Mon Oncle Antoine, the townspeople are all poor except Antoine, the owner of the asbestos company and the English supervisor. Benoit, the main character, is a young boy whose poverty can be measured only in terms of exposure – and in this regard, he is poor.

13. What shot distances are used?
14. Do you notice a movement from longer to closer shot distances?
15. When are the various shot distances used (e.g., the opening of the scene, during a conversation, etc.)?
16. What purposes do the shot distances serve?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
The movie starts with an establishing shot of the club in which Ling Moy worked as a dancer. We then see a medium shot that turns quickly into a close-up of Ling Moy in her elegant dance attire. The close-up shot of an excited Ling Moy when she learns she is going to meet her father should have come out better in an extreme close-up. As the movie progresses, we see several medium shots of Ling Moy with her father and close-ups when she gets emotional about her new assignment as the murder girl. In a close up shot, we see the ruthless face of Fu Manchu as he leads Sir Petrie to his death on the stairs.
Another good use of a close-up shows the surprised face of Sir Petrie when he reads Fu manchu’s threat letter.
This movie has excellent wide and sometimes pan shots showing the pathways between Petrie’s house and Ling Moy’s. The wide shots showing snow capped villages and town establish the setting of this movie. Another important setting is revealed though a pan shot of the mine where Joe Poulin works. There is a shift from wide to medium shots to reveal the characters e.g Joe Poulin and his English boss. We also see a wide shot showing Euclid’s funeral service and several close-ups revealing symbolic objects e.g. rosary and a borrowed funeral suit. At Uncle Antoine’s shop, we see the entire shop through several mediums, wides and close-ups showing the reenactment of the nativity scene, cash register and nails. The journey to the Poulin house to collect the dead body of their son reveals landscapes shot through wide shots. Benoit’s emotion at the Poulin’s home is captured well on extreme close-ups; he looks worried and is unable to eat at the thought of the dead boy next room.

Comparison: shots
This is the one area where the expertise of the cameraman comes into play. Both movies have their fare share of great close-up shots, medium shots, wide shots and pan shots. However, Mon Oncle Antoine has magnificent wide shots revealing the whole township in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Quebec. The snowy hills make the movie look like a documentary. The daughter of the dragon appears stronger in in-house shots between the Petrie house and Ling Moy’s.

17. What information do camera angles provide about characters, objects, and spaces?
18. Do they guide the viewer’s eye toward particular details?
19. Do they align the viewer’s perspective with that of a character?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
Camera angles have been used in this movie to show power relations. Ling Moy sits at her father’s feet level when receiving instructions. When she consults her father’s dragon, she bends down and is at a level closer to the ground. This high-down angle portrays power upon the higher person or object.
Camera angles have also been used to reveal background happenings. When Ling Moy is taking her time to confuse Ah Kee in her house, we can see the background through a little opening.

When Ah Kee manages to free himself but is still tied and gagged in the mouth, we see a double setting camera angle showing him as he tries to call for help without success. Camera angles have been used cleverly to show minute details in Uncle Antoine’s shop. A case in point is the view Benoit enjoyed in the ladies changing room. He could see some details (breasts) more vividly from his hiding place. During Euclid’s funeral service, we see some symbolic details, e.g. the rosary, through a clever manipulation of angles from high-down. A gentleman tried on an extra large pair of pants at Uncle Antoine’s shop and the cameraman took the picture in an angle that showed the oversize stretching larger than it actually was.

In this movie, camera angles have been used to show things with more clarity e.g. the corpses, and to exaggerate situations e.g. Antoine’s drunkenness.

Comparison: Camera Angles
Both movies have used camera angles but the angles in Mon Oncle Antoine are less visible because the movie has been made to look as natural as possible. In the daughter of the dragon, the angles are visible in power relations (Fu Manchu and Ling Moy, servants and Ling Moy) and between two interrelated scenes (Ah Kee when calling for help from the top floor).

20. How do camera movements function?
21. What information do they provide about characters, objects, and spaces?
22. Do they guide the viewer’s eye toward particular details?
23. Do they align the viewer’s perspective with that of a character?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
Camera movements in this movie are used to create pan shots between the pathways of the two adjacent homes belonging to Petrie and Ling Moy. When for instance Ling Moy was escaping from the Scotland Yard agents towards the end of the movie, the camera moves to reveal the scene where she nearly stabs an agent but is instantly shot by Ah Kee. Inside Ling Moy’s house as she talks with Ah Kee, we can see the camera move towards a particular corner where Ling Moy’s, rather her father’s, servants are using body language to communicate the heinous moves with Ling Moy through a small window. The camera movement tells the viewer when sinister things are happens at the background. At the beginning of the movie, we see the camera moving towards the top of the mine where Joe is cranky about the company car’s maintenance. This reveals the subplot involving the mine, the English boss and our perspective of Joe as a rebel.
Another notable camera movement involves the casket that Benoit and Uncle Antoine dropped on the snowy path. There are several camera movements in this movie and they are used to show some details that the viewer needs to note to gain a better understanding of the plot. Other examples include the scene when Benoit and his friend managed to land an ice ball on the owner of the mine. The fact that they can attack such an important person tells a lot about the respect the man commands among his workers; they loathe him.

Comparison: Camera movements
Just like in the camera angles, Mon Oncle Antoine is not rich in camera movements. It is rich in pan shots instead. In the daughter of the dragon, camera movements guide the viewer towards minute details that carry important material for the plot, e.g. the little window through which Ling Moy communicates with her servants while entertaining Ah Kee in her room.

24. What is the music's purpose in a film?
25. How does it direct our attention within the image?
26. How does it shape our interpretation of the image?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
Music comes on and off to warn of an unusual happening. A case in point is when Ling Moy wakes up at night to go kill Ronald. Ah Kee sensed trouble as he walks towards Ronald’s house. The soft music that is played directs the viewer to the tense moment that follows when Ah Kee demands to know what Ling Moy is up to. In this movie, music has been used severally to warn the viewer of an event about to take place. When Benoit and his Uncle Antoine return with the casket, some soft and later loud music introduces the disaster of the casket dropping off the carriage. The same music, this time quite soft was played when Antoine got very drunk and set the horses to drive on “autopilot.”

Comparison: Music
Both movies are not rich in music. The few instances it has been used have not been significant. However, it has been used to prepare the viewer of an impending happening. One reason why music is not featuring a lot is because both movies are not the suspense-type. Mon Oncle Antoine can be mistaken for a documentary; The daughter of the dragon has action but it is low-key. Music comes in handy in situations of serious action.

27. How do industrial, social, and economic conditions influence the film?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
This movie is created at a time when Chinese actors were portrayed in roles that characterized them as criminals, murderers, sly and cunning. It is not by default that all the bad guys are Chinese; these are Fu Manchu, Ling Moy and Ah Kee are Chinese. They are the only ones who have been shown either trying to stab someone, killing someone or shooting someone to death.
The Western characters including Sir Petrie and his family are characterized as nice guys undergoing harassment by Chinese bad guys.
The movie also rekindles some bitter memories of English attempted colonization of China where Fu Manchu alleges his wife and son died and where he implicated the Petries. And indeed the English kept Hong Kong for a hundred years, something that may not have impressed the likes of Fu Manchu at the time.
Fu Manchu is visibly Chinese but a closer look reveals he could be acting Chinese. This cultural insult inflicted on the Chinese to look fake in acts that portray them negatively compounds the racial problem. The movie was shot at a time when Quebec was about to undergo a revolution. It was at this time that the mining industries of Quebec were largely in the hands of English Canadians and Americans. This industrial take over by “foreigners” treated the Quebecois like serfs in their own land. The unchecked capitalism kept the town very poor and the townspeople’s only hope came from Uncle Antoine’s shop and his undertaking services, two of the basic services every society needs. The Catholic Church seemed to support the industrialists; even the workers were supportive in the absence of anything better to support. The separatist movement may have driven sense into the greedy capitalists but in general, some of the remote villages of Quebec may not have changed very much today despite the air of freedom.
The poverty in the small town is evident through their level of transportation technology – horse and carriage, and the behaviour of some parents (Carmen’s father came to collect her pay). This movie is not exaggerated and resembles a documentary.

Comparison: Industrial and Socio-economic conditions
Both movies reflect a rich history of humanity, survival and cruelty. Mon Oncle Antoine tells the frustrations of the Quebec people under the mercy of industrialist who also happen to be English Canadians. An entire town is economically controlled by a single industry where the wages are low and people live like serfs. The people are so reliant on the dangerous industry (asbestos) that they rallied behind their bosses to maintain the status quo when the time for change came. The daughter of the dragon reveals the social tension between westerners and easterners. The Easterners must use violence (rather they are depicted so) to achieve their rights. On the job front, perhaps the best Ling Moy could get was to dance in the club because she was exotic.

28. Does the film follow or critique dominant ideologies?
29. Does it reflect and shape particular cultural tensions?

The Daughter of the Dragon Mon Oncle Antoine
This movie follows the dominant stereotypes that exist between the West and the East. There is a deliberate portrayal of Asians as the bad guys whose main preoccupation is to cause trouble in an otherwise peaceful world. It also touches on gender; Fu Manchu is not convinced that Ling Moy can fulfil his murderous mission because she is a girl. He wishes he had a son. This movie is a portrayal of the rivalries between the French and English in Canada. It portrays the English as the bad guys who lord it over the French. There is the economic side too; capitalism controlled by the rich English has made everyone in the city a serf. Uncle Antoine is not a bad capitalist because he gets involved in society affairs that include fun, grocery and death. The movie also follows the Catholic ideology closely. Perhaps the biggest challenge is directed at capitalism in the hands of hostile neighbours (English Canadians).

30. What did you discover that you did not expect?
31. What surprised or intrigued you?
32. With what did you totally disagree?

Both movies
Never before had I looked at the French-English rivalry in Canada the same way that I did after watching Mon Oncle Antoine. It seems the bitterness that led to the urge to separate from Canada came from economic reasons as opposed to mere language differences. Looking at poverty in a Canadian city was a little comforting given that I thought poverty happens only in Africa and Asia. The daughter of the dragon reminded me of the lurking danger that is brought about by the ugly past. It was discomforting to see Ling Moy get killed but it would have been worse for her to stab the Scotland Yard agent. I could not help feeling sorry for her because she is only obeying her father’s instructions and the culture does not allow disobedience.

It is intriguing how all the grown-ups around Benoit’s life are all behaving strangely. One is left wondering if he picked one of them as his role model, but whom? I was left wondering if the boy would not grow up with a convoluted mind that cherishes immorality, insensitivity and drunkenness. Ling Moy comes across to me as someone who has tasted the freedoms of the west; I therefore wonder why she couldn’t say no to her father’s murderous scheme against the Petries.
I find myself disagreeing with Antoine when he says he wanted to leave; how can he leave yet he is the true hero of the townspeople? He buries their dead, owns the only grocery store and hosts the Christmas Eve every year. I also find it completely unacceptable that the asbestos company boss in Mon Oncle Antoine can speak to Joe in English, a language Joe does not understand. In the daughter of the dragon, it was completely unacceptable for Ah Kee to drop his guard in a hostile environment. He may have been smitten but that still amounts to professional negligence.
As a visible immigrant in Canada, I may be lucky I came in when a lot of the prejudices have been doused but that does not mean that I truly belong. I know this for sure.