I Wish I Knew

I Wish I Knew explores the rich history of Shanghai in the early 20th century. I know - great topic, right? But unfortunately, I feel this Chinese doco did the lush subject much disservice. I Wish I Knew consisted entirely of anecdotes told by the few survivors of the era - which is great in concept, but not so much in reality. Perhaps the survivors aren't the ones with the best stories? And the complete lack of narrative thread made the film feel rambly and a bit incoherent. I will readily assume blame for some of this. I know very little (okay, nothing) about a Chinese history the filmmaker assumed I would know. Unfortunately, without this basic grasp, I was left floundering, trying to make sense of many of the stories being told. Also, I think I'm learning the Chinese storytelling style is quite different from the style in which I'm used to communicating - a style which to me feels a bit more loquacious than I like. But I absolutely recognize this is my cultural bias. And if learning to challenge, possibly overcome my ideology is the one thing that came out of seeing this film, well, that ain't bad, is it?