The Toll of the Sea

Anna Mae Wong, you will always be famous.

Watched as part of my research for a video on early cinematic color processes.

Anna Mae Wong, you will always be famous.

Watched as part of my research for a video on early cinematic color processes.

Anna May Wong is so so talented and is the best part of this movie. This film is very visually pleasing, the sets are so beautiful and the two strip technicolor technique is very cool to watch. However, the story is very sad, and there’s a lot of stereotypes in this movie (sadly like a lot of Anna’s roles). I hate that she gave her son to her ex husband and his new wife to be raised in America. It felt like this supposed to be some cautionary tale against interracial relationships, since both Lotus Flower and Allen were both warned against mixing, and the movie ended in a tragic ending where Lotus Flower gives her son to Allen and his new white American wife to have a "better life”. Anna May Wong deserved so much more than Hollywood would give her, it’s a shame she often received racist roles, or roles that never were given a happy ending.

Anna May Wong is so so talented and is the best part of this movie. This film is very visually pleasing, the sets are so beautiful and the two strip technicolor technique is very cool to watch. However, the story is very sad, and there’s a lot of stereotypes in this movie (sadly like a lot of Anna’s roles). I hate that she gave her son to her ex husband and his new wife to be raised in America. It felt like this supposed to be some cautionary tale against interracial relationships, since both Lotus Flower and Allen were both warned against mixing, and the movie ended in a tragic ending where Lotus Flower gives her son to Allen and his new white American wife to have a "better life”. Anna May Wong deserved so much more than Hollywood would give her, it’s a shame she often received racist roles, or roles that never were given a happy ending.

"at the foot of the garden waited the restless sea."

i went in curious about the two strip technicolor, but quickly found myself wrapped up in the story and especially Anna May Wong’s performance. the film is moving, with Wong bringing such poignancy and fragility to the lead role. the colour is not just a novelty. it is genuinely attractive and integrated beautifully into the drama. what i thought would be a watch for early colour tech became an experience defined by its artistry and emotion.

"at the foot of the garden waited the restless sea."

i went in curious about the two strip technicolor, but quickly found myself wrapped up in the story and especially Anna May Wong’s performance. the film is moving, with Wong bringing such poignancy and fragility to the lead role. the colour is not just a novelty. it is genuinely attractive and integrated beautifully into the drama. what i thought would be a watch for early colour tech became an experience defined by its artistry and emotion.

the gorgeous two-tone technicolor is what initially drew me to this movie and apparently it's also the first film in technicolor that survived to this day. but unfortunately the plot is definitely a product of its time, and i think the creepy old guy who has a relationship with a young chinese girl (constantly called "little girl" by the narration) who then proceeds to get her pregnant and abandon her with zero consequences needed to kill himself a little. also, why the hell is her name just "lotus flower"?

the gorgeous two-tone technicolor is what initially drew me to this movie and apparently it's also the first film in technicolor that survived to this day. but unfortunately the plot is definitely a product of its time, and i think the creepy old guy who has a relationship with a young chinese girl (constantly called "little girl" by the narration) who then proceeds to get her pregnant and abandon her with zero consequences needed to kill himself a little. also, why the hell is her name just "lotus flower"?