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Yellow Rose Examines a Country of Contradiction

 
What are the chances that within a month of my watching Miss Saigon for the first time and being exposed to the major emerging talent that is Eva Noblezada, her starring-role film debut would come out? And that it would also feature another actress I talked about a few times last month who is a Broadway legend in her own right? Yellow Rose is the name of the movie, a slightly discomforting play on words referring both to the state of Texas where the film is set and the protagonist herself, a Filipina-American girl with dreams of being a country music singer.
This fairly standard following-your-dreams music drama story though is actually a Trojan Horse for what the film really is: a searing indictment on American immigration policing, especially in the era of post-DACA Trumpism. As the titular Rose develops her singing and songwriting in the Austin music scene, she is also dealing with the displacement and emotional fallout of her mother being detained and likely deported -with the spectre of ICE catching up with her as well hanging over her every waking moment. And so the film is unexpectedly intense and emotionally devastating for the lightness of its premise.
As it should be. Director Diane Paragas is very aware of the responsibility of her film, especially when it intersects its critique of violent immigration policy with certain staples of American conservative culture: country music, a love of Americana, cowboy aesthetics, and just the state of Texas itself and Rose’s unbridled love for it. It’s not necessarily that Paragas is trying to reveal some hidden truth (nothing in the film is something we didn’t already know is happening) or that she’s trying to convert political naysayers by tricking them with frontier-themed bars and rockabilly. But merely that she’s showing that these crossroads exist. She certainly has no beef with any of the iconography, values, traditions, or general cultural architecture of the white American south -in fact it could be argued she celebrates it, and conveys exactly why it inspires and means so much to Rose, despite her not being the demographic it all is cultivated for.
Certainly it’s respectful enough to have legacy country star Dale Watson sign on to the film; playing himself in an extremely complimentary role that casts him as the homely old musician playing local gigs and doing everything in his power to help young talent succeed -even going so far as to temporarily foster that talent himself in his home. His becoming a wise mentor figure to Rose definitely reeks of disingenuousness on the filmmakers’ part, though Noblezada at least manages to ground Rose during their scenes together. And have I mentioned that Noblezada is a great actress and singer? Whatever else is right or wrong about Yellow Rose, her performance deserves to be recognized as the beginning of a fruitful career in front of the screen. Her talents translate from the stage enormously well, but it’s her nuanced emotional range and small, naturalistic choices that are particularly impressive in a way her musical theatre home wouldn’t necessarily allow her to express. Princess Punzala plays her mother, and does so with real depth of feeling too, but the other actress worth addressing here is Lea Salonga, playing Rose’s aunt. For musical theatre fans, it’s cool to see Noblezada and Salonga sharing the screen together given the parallel trajectory of their careers (both Filipina singers who burst onto the scene with Miss Saigon, and went on to play Eponine in Les Mis for a time -it’s also inevitable that Noblezada will be snatched up by Disney soon, just as Salonga was). But it is honestly a shame that the movie doesn’t do more with Salonga, limiting her screen-time to just a couple scenes, and outside of a short lullaby to her daughter, not letting one of the most acclaimed stars of modern musical theatre sing anything.
There’s also a boy with an obvious crush on Rose who does a lot to help her out, and who you keep expecting to turn into a toxic manipulative “nice guy| -but the film isn’t really interested in juggling that sort of topic on top of its’ other themes. It has an optimistic spirit and a sense of regional pride to convey in spite of the horrible politics that rise to the surface. As someone with no interest in country music or that old west heritage aesthetic, I found myself sympathizing with the appeal, and the film nicely keeps up the tradition set by Richard Linklater of painting Austin as the coolest city in Texas. There is a level of illusion to this, that Rose just happens to find the right people who will keep her safe, one of whom has a degree of fame with which to shepherd her to greater success. But at the same time, Paragas manages to keep it all grounded, and actually shows the dimensions of Rose’s life and her responsibilities outside her musical passion –including the ones’ she must take on in light of what’s happening to her mother. She is a daughter of two cultures, and the film makes sure you never forget that. Honestly, the most unbelievable scene is when an ICE agent, in an uncharacteristic show of basic human empathy, lets Rose go during a search of the bar she’s been hiding out in.
Yellow Rose may be mainly a vehicle for Eva Noblezada to prove her performance capabilities transcend the realm of musical theatre, but the fierce statement that underlines this cannot be ignored. I predict this is only the first of many films that will tackle such themes, especially in the (hopefully) aftermath of the Trump regime. The songs Rose writes are okay, if repeated too often, Noblezada herself being the key to their effectiveness (she even co-wrote some of them, as did Watson). They’re crafted very much in that old style country crooning sincerity, but with an extremely relevant sensibility and commentary to the lyrics and messaging. A cry of the modern world and its unique injustices within the dressing of ingrained tradition. That is the movie itself. 

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