NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (August 2023): Criterion have transferred Wayne Wang's Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "High-definition digital master of a new director’s cut featuring previously unseen footage, supervised by director Wayne Wang". The 1080P image is housed on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks clean and consistent. I know there was a previous DVD but this transfer has rich reds, even grain textures and an overall pleasing HD presentation.

NOTE: We have added 56 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English and Cantonese languages. Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth and score by the American composer based in the San Francisco Bay Area - Todd Boekelheide. Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart was his first feature film composure credit and he has composed for many documentaries including Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. The sound was authentically flat and clean in the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English (Cantonese translated) and English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers a new 25-minute conversation between Wang and filmmaker and film scholar Arthur Dong discussing the 1985 production. There is also a 1/4 hour interview from 2004 with actor Laureen Chew (also in Wang's Chan Is Missing) and the package has liner notes with an essay by scholar Brian Hu.

Wayne Wang's Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart is a warm comedy with a few deeper character emotions present with varying adherence to Chinese 'old world' values. There are many typical shots representing Chinese culture in the West with a range of shoes near the front door (to slip into sandals), the dining room table covered, festive reds and a bustling, crowded, Chinatown. All reminding me of my in-laws. It's hard not to like Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart. A well realized slice-of-life effort - now on Criterion's director-approved Blu-ray with new interviews. Those keen should consider indulging - it's quite a joy.

Gary Tooze