Red Corner (1997)

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writer (WGA):

Robert King (written by)

Release Date:

31 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Severity for those who resist.

Plot:

An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.

Plot Keywords:

China | Murder | Law | Frame Up | English Subtitles In Original

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Richard Gere	...	Jack Moore
Ling Bai	...	Shen Yuelin
Bradley Whitford	...	Bob Ghery
Byron Mann	...	Lin Dan
Peter Donat	...	David McAndrews
Robert Stanton	...	Ed Pratt
Tsai Chin	...	Chairman Xu
James Hong	...	Lin Shou
Tzi Ma	...	Li Cheng
Ulrich Matschoss	...	Gerhardt Hoffman
Richard Venture	...	Ambassador Reed
Jessey Meng	...	Hong Ling
Roger Yuan	...	Huan Minglu
Chi Yu Li	...	General Hong
Henry O	...	Procurator General Yang

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and a scene of sexuality.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Mexico:B | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Avnet/Kerner Productions

Trivia:

In order to heighten the film's reality, director Jon Avnet, actress Ling Bai, and co-producer Martin Huberty traveled to Beijing for a week of "guerilla" shooting (without the knowledge or permission of the Chinese government!) to capture the first-ever 35mm film of the city to appear in a Hollywood film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the very beginning of the film, the little girl looks up at the sky and blocks out the sun with her hand. But it is totally obvious that she is blocking out nothing, for there is no shadow of her hand across her eyes.

Quotes:

Jack Moore: What are you gonna do, you gonna shoot me twice?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Observe & Report/Gigantic/Hannah Montana: The Movie (#1.7)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

I want To Hold Your Hand

Very good, exciting, exotic suspense thriller

I thought this was wonderful - and can't for the life of me understand the criticisms.

Some seem to be attacking the movie on the basis that it is too hard on China - REALLY?

Ask any North Korean refugee who's been captured in China -

Ask any member of the harmless Falun Gong religious sect -

Ask anyone connected by family ties with those identified as having participated in the Tianenmen Square protests (the protests were actually in quite a number of cities - but television covered just the tens of thousands assembled in Beijing).

No, it's not an "art house" kind of movie - don't expect the slow pace and strange story of something like Farewell My Concubine.

Instead, it's a wonderful Hitchcock-type story transplanted to Communist China - and voila - a wonderful movie that should have been remembered at Oscar time!

It's far better than, say, Hitchcock's Torn Curtain or Topaz - both set in repressive Communist regimes. It's more like a combination of The Wrong Man and North by Northwest - but sexier than either.

Our Welsh friend from beautiful Aberystwyth, Philip Davies, has it about right in his review printed beneath mine.

This is beautifully shot, with wonderful acting in a riveting Hitchcock type movie. Richard Gere is excellent - the politics and scenes of a changing China are fascinating.

I strongly recommend this one.

This is very exciting, suspenseful, romantic - and its depiction of China rings true.