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:

Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao, Kieu Chinh

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:

chopsticks the eating utensil | mother murders own child | subtitled scene | sacrifice | farewell party | 

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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:

610 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$159,009, 12 September 1993

Gross USA:

$32,901,136

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$32,901,136

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 a 2018 NPR interview, executive producer Janet Yang recalled that director Wayne Wang (who she said usually had "the most lovely personality") lost his temper in a marketing meeting because the studio had presented him with the choices for posters to advertise The Joy Luck Club, and all of the options avoided showing the face of an Asian person. Either the designs were very abstract (for example, a decorative woodcut) or they were photos of the actresses' backs.

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Goofs

In the first scene where young Ying Ying met her future husband, the guy opened a watermelon which was totally seedless. The scene should be in later 1930s or early 1940s, based on the context. Very unlikely there was any seedless watermelons available in China at the time. Japanese scientists started seedless research in lab in 1938. It won't be widely available even in Japan market till after WWII.

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Quotes

Rose: You're not taking my house, you're not taking my daughter, you're not taking any part of me, because you don't know who I am. I died sixty years ago. I ate opium and I died for my daughter's sake. Now get out of my house!

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Radar Secret Service (1993)

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Soundtracks

The Monkees' Theme
Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
Used by permission of Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc.
Performed by The Monkees
Courtesy of Arista Records, Inc.

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.