Dear You strikes a chord with LA, NY audiences

For Chaozhou-born singer Zheng Zhili, watching the Chinese movie Dear You in Los Angeles felt less like sitting through a film and more like opening a door to memories of home.

More than 10 years ago, while pursuing his career in one of China's major cities, Zheng wrote Tea Fragrance, a song inspired by his longing for his hometown of Jieyang in Guangdong province. Years later, now living overseas, he found the movie's portrayal of migration, family separation and attachment to one's ancestral home deeply familiar.

"Tea is an important carrier of Chaoshan culture," Zheng said after a preview screening of Dear You in Los Angeles on Thursday. "The music in the film reminded me of Tea Fragrance ... It even inspired me to write a new song about the wanderers from Chaoshan."

Other viewers shared that sense of recognition as Dear You, one of China's surprise box-office successes of the year, opened in North America on Friday.

Distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment, the movie opened at more than 160 theaters across major US and Canadian cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver.

The 118-minute family drama became a word-of-mouth hit after its release in China on April 30, grossing more than 1.8 billion yuan ($270 million) by mid-June, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.

In the United States, its appeal appeared to extend well beyond its commercial success.

In New York, the poignant drama left many audience members in tears at a Regal Cinema. Sniffles could be heard throughout the screening as viewers responded to a story that crossed cultures.

"Yes, I cried," said Ella Fang, 31, who was originally from China and now lives in Virginia.

Fang emigrated to the US at a very young age and related to the experience of missing family while living abroad.

"I can use FaceTime to talk with my mom, but that film was about 50 years ago, so it was more challenging when they missed their family. The friendship and the love that continued on and the passing of the love got to me… especially the ending."

At the center of the movie are qiaopi — letters, remittance receipts and other correspondence sent home by generations of Chinese emigrants.

In Dear You, the letters become a thread connecting a family separated across China and Thailand. A debt-ridden grandson travels to Thailand in search of a grandfather he believes abandoned the family, only to uncover a decades-long story of sacrifice, responsibility and care hidden behind the letters and remittances sent across the sea.

For many Chaoshan-born viewers in Los Angeles, that history hit close to home.

Howard Lin, a longtime Chinese immigrant from Chaozhou, said his father also traveled from China to Southeast Asia and that he witnessed the hardships his parents' generation endured.

After spending several decades in the US, Lin said the experiences depicted in the movie resonated with his own family history. "Generation after generation, we have worked hard to build a life overseas and put down roots, much like the Nanzhi family portrayed in the film," he said.

Singer Zheng said the movie also reminded him how dramatically the circumstances of overseas Chinese have changed across generations.

"Those overseas Chinese had it so hard," he said. "China was not as developed then ... we are so fortunate today because our ancestral country has become so strong."

The response in Los Angeles also suggested that the film's appeal extends beyond audiences who share its cultural background.

Emmy-nominated producer Alexander Gray described it as "very sincere" and praised its storytelling.

"I saw a lot of headlines about how popular it was, and I wanted to study the history because of that," Gray said, expressing hope that more Chinese movies would reach Los Angeles theaters.

Los Angeles-based playwright and theater director Elizabeth Wong called Dear You "a beautiful, soul-clutching film" that was "heartwarming" and "uplifting".

Wong said she was particularly drawn to the movie's portrayal of immigration through longing for home, family responsibility and the practice of sending letters and money across borders.

While the film deeply resonated with Chinese audiences, New York cinemagoers likewise said its themes had universal appeal and could resonate with US audiences.

Steve Choudhury, 29, from Virginia, watched the movie in New York with his friend Sally Zhu, 27, from Guangdong province.

"I thought it was very moving," Choudhury said. "American audiences will warm to it because, even though it's about another culture, it's about relationships. I think everyone can relate to that, as it's about family."

Contact the writers at renali@chinadailyusa.com