“Hey, Gramps, where’s my money?!” is the battle cry of a Chinese man in modern day gone to find his roots. This story is about Den Bhagseng (Wang Yantong), the guy who was gaga for grandma in the 1950s, then disappeared and no one heard from him again.
Yeah, what happened to that guy?
So rumor has it that gramps deserted his family for Thailand, found another family and completely forgot about his first. This thought is buoyed by letters Den sent home, eventually including (without explanation) a picture of young Den with a Thai woman and several children. What’s with that? What Den a cheater? Oh well, shit happens, right?
Well … no.
This is a Chinese film, after all. Think the Chinese government is gonna have something nice to say about a deserting bigamist? I sincerely doubt it.
There are several schools named after Den Baghseng, which makes junior III believe gramps was loaded. So, hey, I got plenty of debt; where’s my money? The kid tracks grandpa to a small Thai village, only to realize gramps died in 1960. He was a young man and poor … and that’s why grandma stopped getting letters.
And I’m not sure the timeline works here, but, hey, it’s your movie. What Dear You does next is follow 
Den Baghseng’s Thai revolution, having originally traveled there to avoid being conscripted into the Chinese Civil War. He never remarried, and here’s *that* story.
Unfortunately for the film, Den’s Thailand adventure is a far more compelling take than anything happening “modern day.” This story, however, has two major flaws: 1) It is too short to compel a full-length runtime and 2) we already know the ending. You can get all sentimental, and yes, the film goes on just long enough so some audience members might forget the kid dies young, hopelessly pining for his wife and children back in China.
That sequence, however, made me kinda mad as without Den, and without the woman from the photo (as her story is also done), the film has left me with 30 minutes remaining and no compelling characters. Dear You would have been a better film set entirely in the period from 1950 to 1960 and ending in Den’s death. The rest is just reaction to Den’s story and a revision of how minor characters feel about Thai gramps. It ain’t worth it.
There once was a young man named Den
Who fled country and family back then
No man is an island
For tragedy in Thailand
Created ripples across the sea far and when
Rated PG-13, 119 Minutes
Director: Hongchun Lan
Writer: Hongchun Lan, Leng Tang, Xuanxuan Zheng
Genre: Searching for gramps
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Family romanticists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Genealogists
