Joy Luck Club [Blu-ray]

Director: Wayne Wang Wayne Wang

Overview

Director Wayne Wang and screenwriter Ronald Bass effectively interweave sixteen mother-daughter tales in their silken film version of Amy Tan's best-selling novel about the clash between generations. The film takes place in present-day San Francisco, concentrating on a group of late-middle-aged Chinese women. Ever since arriving in the United States after World War II, the women have gathered weekly to play mah-jongg and to tell stories, regaling each other with tales of their children and grandchildren, giving each other a sense of hope and renewal in the midst of poverty and hardship. The Joy Luck Club is made up of four women -- Suyuan (Kieu Chinh), Lindo (Tsai Chin), Ying Ying (France Nuyen), and An Mei (Lisa Lu). But when Suyuan dies, the three surviving members invite Suyuan's daughter June (Ming-Na Wen) to take her place. Along with the daughters of the other members -- Waverly (Tamlyn Tomita), Lena (Lauren Tom), and Rose (Rosalind Chao) -- June is a Chinese-American with only a passing interest in her rich cultural heritage. But through vignettes that switch back and forth in time, the daughters begin to appreciate the struggles of their mothers to start their families in the optimistic promise of the United States.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/11/2012
UPC:	0786936827088
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	R
Source:	Touchstone / Disney
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:19:00
Sales rank:	14,970

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tamlyn Tomita	Waverly
Kieu Chinh	Suyuan
Tsai Chin	Lindo
France Nuyen	Ying Ying
Lisa Lu	An Mei
Ming-Na Wen	June
Lauren Tom	Lena
Rosalind Chao	Rose Hsu Jordan
Chao-Li Chi	June's Father
Christopher Rich	Rich
Nicholas Guest	Hairdresser
Russell Wong	Lin Xiao,Old Chong
Andrew McCarthy	Ted Jordan
Diane Baker	Mrs. Jordan
Jack Ford	Mr. Jordan
Melanie Chang	June (age 9),Lin-Xiao's Opera Singer
Michael Paul Chan	Harold
Phillip Moon	Ken,Ken
Vivian Wu	An Mei's Mother,3rd Auntie
Wu Tianming	Wu Tsing
Lisa Connolly	Singing Girl
Vu Mai	Waverly (age 6-9)
Ying Wu	Lindo (age 4)
Mei Juan-Xi	Lindo's Mother
Guo-Rong Chen	Huang Tai-Tai
Hsu Ying-Li	Matchmaker
Irene Ng	Lindo (age 15)
Qugen Cao	Lindo's Father
Anie Wang	Lindo's Brother
Yan Lu	Lindo's 2nd Brother
Boffeng Liang	Pedicab Driver
William Gong	Tyan Yu
Diana C. Weng	Lindo's Servant
Yuan-Ho C. Koo	Matchmaker's Friend
Zhi Xiang-Xia	Huang Tai-Tai Servant
Dan Yi	Servant's Boyfriend
Kim Chew	Mrs. Chew
Jason Yee	Waverly's Brother
Ya Shan-Wu	Lindo's Husband
Samantha Haw	Shoshana
Yu Fei-Hong	Ying Ying (age 16-25)
Melissa Tan	Jennifer
Yi Ding	An Mei (age 9)
Emmy Yu	An Mei (age 4)
Lucille Soong	Popo
You Ming-Chong	An Mei's Uncle
Fen Tian	1st Auntie
Lena Zhou	2nd Auntie
Elizabeth Sung	2nd Wife
Eva Shen	An Mei's Nanny
Sheng Yu Ma	Suyuan's 1st Twin Daughter
Sheng Wei Ma	Suyuan's 2nd Twin Daughter
Heidi Levitt	Actor
Chao Li Chi	June's Father
Rachel Portman	Composer

Technical Credits

Ronald Bass

Amy Tan

Wayne Wang	Director,Producer
Ronald Bass	Producer,Screenwriter
Patrick Markey	Producer
Amy Tan	Producer,Screenwriter
Oliver Stone	Executive Producer
Risa Bramon Garcia	Casting
Heidi Levitt	Casting
Frank W. Tarantino	Special Effects
Ralph Bass	Producer
Janet Yang	Executive Producer
A. Tan	Producer

Editorial Reviews

This is a successful (if, at times, strenuously overstated) adaptation of Amy Tan's celebrated novel chronicling the generations of a family of Chinese women. Wayne Wang's tasteful direction goes a long way in providing interesting focal points for the viewer, and despite eight interweaving storylines, the film is never confusing or disjointed. One of the rare American movies of the 1990s that has a virtually across-the-board Asian cast, the actors all turn in strong performances, sometimes admirably eschewing the histrionics provided by the script, which occasionally feels diagrammed to give the actresses "big scenes." Not every story is equally gripping, and the pace lags at intervals, but the sentimental nature of The Joy Luck Club is eventually earned, and Tan's unerringly precise source-material gives it a much-deserved grace. A crossover hit at the box office, the film oddly failed to receive any Academy Award nominations for the year it was released, despite wide predictions that it was a sure Oscar candidate.

All Movie Guide - Jason Clark