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

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:

Most of the film's exterior scenes were shot on a seven-acre reproduction of a Beijing neighborhood constructed near the Los Angeles International Airport. The set was decorated with 300 bicycles, 15 cars, and thousands of miscellaneous props (from stoves to manhole covers) actually imported from China.

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:

Shen Yuelin: Lin Dan!

Movie Connections:

References "The Brady Bunch" (1969)

Underrated Political/Courtroom Drama

For about a dozen years, it was hard to find too many films Richard Gere made which weren't interesting and well-made. This was no exception. Once again, he "delivers the goods" and is involved in an interesting story.

Gere, a follower, I believe, of the Dalai Lama whom the Communists forced out of Tibet, uses this film to get his shots in at his mentor's enemy. Anyone who thinks this is just a coincidence is pretty naive. Nonetheless, the facts support the film's stark, brutal portrayal of Communist China's leadership. At the very least, it shows a regime unwilling to hear both sides of a story. (Hollywood has often given the same treatment to the U.S. government, showing it more often in a corrupt light, which is ludicrous compared to restrictive Communist China.)

Anyway, Gere really dominates this film, being in almost every scene. This is your basic frame-up-then-prove-your-innocence-in-court story. It keeps your attention throughout although I thought the ending was a bit confusing because things happened almost too fast for the viewer to take in. At two hours, the film could have been trimmed a tad but the lulls in here were not much.

Overall, an underrated film and unjustly criticized by the national critics, most of whom don't like it when communism is bashed.