What do an activist, a lesbian and a pastor's wife all have in common? Apparently, they're all named Grace Lee, and they're all part of the world's most baffling mystery: who the heck is Grace Lee?
Do you know a Grace Lee? Filmmaker Grace Lee thought her name was unique and special growing up, but time in New York and Los Angeles demonstrated to her that her name was ubiquitous among her demographic. It seems that everyone she met knew another Grace Lee, and all these myriad other Graces were remembered as polite, quiet, devout Christian girls who played the piano or violin and went off to Ivy League schools. Was this the reality of Grace Lee, and by extension, other female Asian-Americans? In order to explore the questions of identity raised by this dilemma, Grace Lee the intrepid filmmaker sets out to find more Grace Lees and discover both what they're really like, and what their relationships to each other are. The resulting work, unsurprisingly, is titled The Grace Lee Project and it's filled with fascinating characters and a celebration of both the individuality of all the Graces and their similarities as well.
Lee begins her quest with a futile visit to a private investigator only to have his cursory search reveal far more Graces in a single city than she could ever hope to contact -- but she launches gamely into the adventure anyway. Her other Grace Lees run the gamut, from a former Black Panther to a minister's wife to an arsonist to a lesbian activist to a news anchor, carrying her from one end of the country to the other and halfway around the world. Along the way, Lee illustrates the results of her quest with animated sequences and shorter clips of interviews that intersperse her more in-depth character studies. The questions she asks herself and the honesty with which she looks at her own changing interests and motivations set The Grace Lee Project apart as an intimate, personal experience and an uniquely candid work, even as it tackles some of the broadest subjects. However, this intimacy does not come at the expense of humor and charm, which breathe life into this documentary.
There are some difficulties with the film that arise out of this very personal view. Some of her interviews seem open to a broad range of a particular Graces' experiences, while she focuses very narrowly on others. Individual interviews are sometimes not very balanced, and the end result is a film that feels lopsided. Her critical eye and specific focus on religion and Christianity -- she interviews a pastor's kid and a minister's wife -- weren't nearly as sympathetic as her interviews with others, and her work with the television anchor wasn't nearly as engaging as her interviews with the activist Grace Lee Boggs or her nearly hagiographic profile of another Grace who despite her own present and past difficulties opened her home to a friend's family fleeing abuse. Perhaps her most telling and revealing interview was the one she could not include, and the delicate balancing act in simultaneously respecting the privacy of a former lesbian activist and the soul searching that arises as a result does Lee great credit. However, even as her own personal prejudices and opinions are an integral part of the film's ability to be engaging, they also hamper the flow of the film and risk losing the sympathy of the audience. Her obvious interest in some subjects is enough to support an entirely separate film, while she seems restless with others.
Despite a feature film-length run time, and problems with the focus of some sequences, The Grace Lee Project almost seems too short. Another few minutes to more fully explore some of her trains of thought, such as an abbreviated look at Grace Kelly and American films as the inspiration for the naming of many of the Grace Lees, would have been greatly appreciated. Lee has more than enough wit to sustain The Grace Lee Project a few minutes longer without tiring her audience. The film also would have been more cohesive if her focus on ethnicity were either a tiny bit broader or a tad narrower. Still, The Grace Lee Project is remarkably personable, quirky, and fun, while still being a serious and intimate examination of identity.
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