Critical Biography Filmography Reviews Bibliography
Chan, Pauline – Critical Biography Top
Pauline Chan was born in Vietnam and grew up there until she was fifteen. Her mother was a Chinese woman who had fled Hong Kong during the Second World War in order to escape from the Japanese invasion, while her father was a French-educated Vietnamese businessman who was arrested and imprisoned for his capitalist activities when Vietnam became communist. When war broke out in Vietnam, Chan was sent along with her younger brother to study in Hong Kong. There, Chan and her brother found themselves impoverished, but paid their way through an industry-run drama school by acting as film extras. Although Chan found roles in numerous martial-arts films, the parts were not significant, and Chan left Hong Kong to pursue a communications degree at UCLA.
Upon her return to Hong Kong, Chan chose to emigrate along with her family to Australia. There she found roles in a number of television and film productions, including the TV series Vietnam (1987) and Bangkok Hilton (1989), as well as films such as Bruce Beresford’s Paradise Road (1997). Chan, however, did not feel fulfilled with her acting career, nor was she satisfied with the roles she was receiving. She first turned to working in documentaries as a researcher and director’s assistant at Film Australia. Thereafter, she went to film school and spent years working on her graduation film, the award-winning short The Space Vision (1989). Chan made her feature film debut as a writer-director with Traps (1994), an adaptation of the novel Dreamhouse by Kate Grenville. The film plot retained the novel’s original story about an Englishwoman’s sense of alienation when she travels in Italy but changed the setting from contemporary Tuscany to 1950s Vietnam. She followed this work with a thriller starring Mimi Rogers (Little White Lies, 1996) which she took on mainly for its technical challenges.
Chan’s most recent film is also one of her most personal. Starring Guy Pearce, 33 Postcards (2011) marks the first co-production effort between China and New South Wales, and tells the story of a teenaged Chinese orphan (Zhu Lin) who gets the opportunity to visit her longtime sponsor in Australia when she takes part in a performing arts visit to the country. There, she discovers to her shock that her sponsor is in fact a convict who is in jail for manslaughter. The film deftly explores the relationship between the two characters, and won awards at both the Sydney Film Festival and the Shanghai Film Festival, China.
Filmography Top
Feature Films:
| Role | Title (English) | Title (Chinese) | Year |
| Producer | The Gateway | N/A | 2018 |
| Director Producer Writer | 33 Postcards (Trailer) | 美麗謊言 | 2011 |
| Producer | The Dragon Pearl (Trailer) | 尋龍奪寶 | 2011 |
| Development producer | Painted Skin (Trailer) | 畫皮 | 2008 |
| Producer | Ultraviolet (Trailer) | 紫光原素 | 2006 |
| Associate producer | Belly of the Beast | N/A | 2003 |
| Production manager | Rush Hours 2 (Trailer) | 火拼時速2 | 2002 |
| Company director | Sugar Factory | N/A | 1998 |
| Director | Little White Lies | N/A | 1996 |
| Director Writer | Traps | N/A | 1994 |
Shorts:
Role |
Title (English) |
Title (Chinese) |
Year |
| Director Writer | Tales of Love and Tears | N/A | 2003 |
| Director Writer | Journey into Mongolia | N/A | 2002 |
| Director | Dusty Hearts | N/A | 1993 |
| Director Producer | Hang Up | N/A | 1992 |
| Director Producer | The Space Between the Door and the Floor | N/A | 1992 |
Reviews and Interviews Top
33 Postcards Reviews:
Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/augustine-33-postcards-movie-reviews-article-1.1345141
Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/33-postcards-film-review-524007
New York Post: http://nypost.com/2013/05/17/33-postcards-review/
The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/movies/33-postcards-directed-by-pauline-chan.html
Variety: http://variety.com/2011/film/reviews/33-postcards-1117945481/
33 Postcards Interviews:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio National (ABC RN): Interview with Pauline Chan, director: 33 Postcards
Special Broadcasting Services (SBS): 33 Postcards: Pauline Chan interview
Traps (1994) Reviews:
The New York Times: FILM REVIEW;No Wonder the Guests Are Nervous
Los Angeles Times: MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Traps’: Passion and Honesty Get Lost in a Tangled Web
Variety: http://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/traps-1200437684/
Bibliography Top
Dillon, Jo. Letter to a neighbour: Pauline Chan on crossing cultural lines through film [online]. Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 173, 2012: 94-96. Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=738227930017974;res=IELLCC> ISSN: 0312-2654. [cited 15 Nov 17]
Khoo, Olivia, Belinda Smaill, Audrey Yue. “Co-productions and New Queer Paradigms for Mobilities and Migration.” In Transnational Australian Cinema: Ethics in the Asian Diasporas. Maryland: Lexington Books, 2013, 165-182.
Yue, Audrey. “Asian‐Australian Cinema, Asian‐Australian Modernity.” Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 24, no. 65, 2000, pp. 189–199.
Hong Kong Women Filmmakers 