The Joy Luck Club Movie Review 1993

Universal themes in mother/daughter relationships are explored in a context Hollywood first rejected as too narrow, but which proved to be a modest sleeper hit. Tan skillfully weaves the plot of her 1989 best-seller into a screenplay which centers around young June's (Ming-Na) going-away party. Slowly the stories of four Chinese women, who meet weekly to play mah-jongg, are unraveled. Each vignette reveals life in China for the four women and the tragedies they survived, before reaching into the present to capture the relationships between the mothers and their daughters. Powerful, relevant, and moving.

Distribution

Hollywood Pictures Home Video, Fairmont Bldg. 526, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505-9842, Phone: (818)562-3560

Available on VHS
Running time 136 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Moms, Women, China, Asian America, Female Bonding

Screenplay

Amy Tan, Ronald Bass

Cast

Tsai Chin, Kieu Chinh, France Nuyen, Rosalind Chao, Tamlyn Tomita, Lisa Lu, Lauren Tom, Ming Na, Michael Paul Chan, Andrew McCarthy, Christopher Rich, Russell Wong, Victor Wong, Vivian Wu, Jack Ford, Diane Baker

Director

Wayne Wang

Producer

Wayne Wang, Oliver Stone, Hollywood Pictures