This kind of documentary is a journey of discovery. It's not illustrating what is already known. Filmmaker John Helde sets out to find his father's history. He takes us along as he travels to a non-scripted conclusion.
This film has an easy pace. The people we meet along the way, sort of take over the story, and fill out what the father can't give. I especially like this dialog by some of the American women who were also born in China before World War II.
"I don't know whether we'll be back to China again. And, that makes me sad in one dimension, but I feel I have enough China in me, so that when I leave, I won't have left completely," says B.J. Elder in the 23rd chapter.
"I needed to fit in and grab a hold of wherever I was and not hold onto the past. If I held onto the past, then I would begin to feel lost," says Anne Lockwood Romasco. "I've always felt as though I was passing through a place...I never had the feeling that that was really my home. I was only going on somewhere else, on my way to some other place."
They discuss feeling like a foreigner in China and also like a foreigner when "home" in America. Then Helde becomes a foreigner himself as he makes his way toward his ancestor's birthplace. It is nice to see the friendly welcome by the people of China.
This film makes for a pleasant evening. Its points are soft. They gather as we walk along the trail with John Helde and his companions.