The Joy Luck Club (1993)

The life histories of four Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other.

Director:

Wayne Wang

Writers:

Amy Tan (novel), Amy Tan (screenplay),

Stars:

Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, Tamlyn Tomita

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kieu Chinh	...	Suyuan - The Mother
Tsai Chin	...	Lindo - The Mother
France Nuyen	...	Ying-Ying - The Mother
Lisa Lu	...	An-Mei - The Mother
Ming-Na Wen	...	June - The Daughter
Tamlyn Tomita	...	Waverly - The Daughter
Lauren Tom	...	Lena - The Daughter
Rosalind Chao	...	Rose - The Daughter
Chao Li Chi	...	June's Father
Melanie Chang	...	June - Age 9
Victor Wong	...	Old Chong
Lisa Connolly	...	Singing Girl
Mai Vu	...	Waverly - Age 6-9 (as Vu Mai)
Ying Wu	...	Lindo - Age 4
Meijuan Xi	...	Lindo's Mother (as Mei Juan Xi)

Storyline

Through a series of flashbacks, four young chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China, explore their past. This search will help them understand their difficult mother/daughter relationship.

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Plot Keywords:

chinese | china | asian | flashback | child abuse | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong depiction of thematic material

Details

Country:

USA China

Language:

English Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

29 October 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

El club de la buena estrella

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$32,861,136 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel, it is revealed that the real name of the character played by Ming-Na Wen is Jing-Mei. On ER, Ming-Na plays another character named Jing-Mei.

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Goofs

When Ying Ying is talking to Lena in Harold's apartment, Ying Ying's multi-strand pearl necklace is twisted in some shots and untwisted in others.

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Quotes

Lindo Jong: I told them the matchmaker had made the wrong match on purpose, just for money.
Huang Tai Tai: Matchmaker, how could you? How could you?
Matchmaker: Well, mistakes happen in heaven.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: True Romance/The Ballad of Little Jo/Kalifornia/The Joy Luck Club/The Real McCoy (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Flute and Harp Concerto in C, K.299 (Andantino)"
(1778)
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

I Honestly Love This Movie

The Joy Luck Club is a movie based on the bestselling novel by Amy Tan of the same name. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life. It combines the stories of mothers and daughters to tell one sincere story of friendship. It is one of the finest pieces of acting collaberations among an ensemble cast. It also combines foriegn film with American film in a way giving it a new style. This movie is almost ten years old. For me it never gets old and the stories are also fresh. I like the set up of the movie or the sequence rather, better than the book. It seemed to make more sense. It also has the movie and book on the same level of unique style and everlasting stories to go along with it. Many of the performances were powerful. Even those who only spoke the Chinese language in the film should have gotten awards for performances that made me laugh and cry. I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to see an honestly good film without the Hollywood hype. Rent it, you won't regret it.