One Paragraph Movie Review: The Bitter Tea Of General Yen

Forty-fourth film: The Bitter Tea Of General Yen. Okay so a 1933 film set in China is going to be racist from the outset, but the early line “don’t be fooled about his looking civilised. They’re all tricky, treacherous and immoral. I can’t tell one from the other. They’re all Chinamen to me” still comes as an intensely jarring shock. That said, this is a beautifully filmed love story set in a time of missionaries, civil war, and when it might have been okay for your great grandparents to say “That sheila sure has a thing for them Orientals”. Except in this case the Chinese guy is a Swedish actor in make-up. Still, elegant frocks, breathtaking stereotypical decor, and very tizzy pyjamas indeed make this romp borderline palatable. But suuuuuper racist. Two convertible make-up cabinets out of five.