Happiness (2017)

"Happiness" is my poem in movie form. The plot is about how a married lady found feelings of happiness again in a massage parlor that encouraged her to change the path of her life again. Although it is a short film, the story touches some common issues among overseas Chinese; how to find a career path in a new country as an immigrant; finding companionship as a "left over woman" (3S lady); understanding the relation between wealth and happiness, etc. This short movie does not intend to push my point of view, but rather to inspire people to think about what happiness is from each person's perspective. At the end of this film, everyone in the story seems a step further toward happiness. The lady chooses to return to the person who gave her happiness before, the massage parlor manager becomes a happy mother-to-be, and Masseuse Lee has received a love signal from his ex-wife. On another aspect, the lady in this movie choosing to go back to her ex, to her roots, is symbolic of the path chosen by overseas Chinese in general. We immigrate to a new country, dive in western culture thinking that we could thoroughly enjoy, and mingle, and feel at home. Although some probably do, many of us including myself are actually slowly moving back to our cultural roots and finding happiness in it.