‘Combination Platter’

With humor and poignancy, feature debut filmmaker Tony Chan pulls us into the uncertain everyday life of an illegal immigrant (Kenneth Lu, pictured), a diffident Chinese waiter in a Chinese restaurant in Queens, N.Y. There are some awkward, self-conscious moments in this 1993 release, but few films explore the need for cultural identity in creating an unconscious racism so thoroughly--and with such a subtle touch (Cinemax early Monday at 5:20 a.m.).