The story has Jo (Wood Moy), a middle-age taxi driver, matched with his nephew Steve (Marc Hayashi), a talkative young man. In an attempt to get their own taxi medallion, the two have transferred their savings—$4,000—to Chan Hung, a shady sort who's probably made off with their dough. As the title suggests, Jo and Steve can't find Chan, and the film follows their search through the labyrinth of Chinatown, a place filled with "normal" people—nice, humble, middle-class types in restaurants and retirement homes. In the milieu of Chinatown, they come across diverse individuals while learning clues—none very helpful—about Chan's whereabouts. His estranged wife declares the search hopeless, Chan may be in Taiwan or might possibly have been involved in a political scuffle that occurred during a New Year's parade—or maybe not. He also may have been embroiled in an argument between two older Chinese men (during which one was shot dead), but a visit to the old guys' retirement home only yields the useless information that Chan enjoyed the tango and carried the nickname "Hi-Ho"—for the cookies he loved so much.

The movie is frequently funny, with Wang both pointing out Chinese stereotypes and revealing cultural surprises with a gentle, dry, intelligent wit. It's a terrific, authentic look at San Francisco's Chinese American community, from its elders to its hipsters (memorably, a Chinese cook who wears a Saturday Night FeverT-shirt and sings "fry me to the moon"). A Godot-like mystery matched with an enormously likable cast of characters, Chan Is Missing remains one of the director's finest achievements. We wish he'd return to form soon.

Transferred nicely to full-frame, the film is still very grainy (but it's 16 mm film stock—you have to give it a break), but the black and white is frequently lovely. The DVD extras aren't plentiful, but intriguing. "Is Chan Mising? The Making of Chan is Missing" goes inside the making the low-budget film, interviewing cast and crew members. Also on board are two separate interviews with the film's stars—Wood Moy and Marc Hayashi. Pity that Wang himself wasn't as present in this release as he should have been; maybe revisiting his triumph would make him remember where his strengths lie—with the Chinatown of Chan, not with the Maid in Manhattan.