Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom

Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom
Directed by	Daniel O'Hara
Starring	Daniel Wu Frank Kelly Paddy C. Courtney Richard Morton
Release date(s)	2003
Running time	13 minutes
Country	Ireland
Language	Irish, English, Chinese

Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom (My Name is Yu Ming) is a 2003 Irish short film. Filmed largely in the Irish language, it tells the tale of a Chinese man who has learned to speak Irish, but cannot be understood when he comes to visit Ireland. It was directed by Daniel O'Hara and runs 13 minutes long.

Plot

Bored with his life in China, shop worker Yu Ming decides to visit a random country and picks Ireland by spinning a globe. He goes to the library where an atlas informs him that the official language of Ireland is "Gaelic". Consequently he learns and becomes perfectly fluent in Irish before his trip.

The film follows his adventures in trying to be understood in Dublin, where most of the population has little or no grasp of the language. For example, when he arrives at a Dublin hostel, Yu Ming says, "Ba mhaith liom leaba anseo" ("I would like a bed here"). The Australian receptionist assumes that Yu Ming is speaking Chinese, and explains that he doesn't understand.

Yu Ming then heads to a bar in order to seek work and again his Irish lets him down. He asks the barman, "Tá me ag lorg obair" ("I am looking for work") and the barman stares blankly at him, not understanding a word. An elderly Irish-speaker at the end of the bar listens in awe as the Chinese man can speak the mother tongue Irish fluently, and he invites him for a drink and explains the misunderstanding.

Yu Ming is later shown working as a bartender in the Irish-speaking Connemara.

A phrase that recurs throughout the film is "An bhfuil tusa ag labhairt liomsa?" ("Are you talking to me?").

Cast

• Daniel Wu as Yu Ming
• Frank Kelly as the old man
• Paddy C. Courtney as a barman
• Richard Morton as Lenny

External links

• Summary and full film at Atomfilms
• Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom at the Internet Movie Database
• Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom at Clipland