Inside a Dream
Added 9/16/2008
Wayne Wang's "The Chinese Box" was in the budget bin @ our local video store; so I took a chance. The slow-paced film produces some excellent delights. Jeremy Irons who won his Oscar for "Reversal of Fortune" in 1980 plays John, a British citizen living in Hong Kong right before the turnover of control to the Chinese. As John, Irons is expressive in an unrequited love for Vivian. He deals with his serious medical condition and says goodbye to that which he loves most dearly. Gong Li is elegant as Vivian. She expresses so much with a look from her eyes. Li has won four major acting awards which are the Volpi Cup for Best Actress from the Venice International Film Festival for "The Story of Qiu Ju" in 1992, a supporting award from the New York Film Critics Circle for "Farewell My Concubine" in 1993, Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival for "Piaoliang Mama," & a support award in 2005 from the National Board of Review for "Memoirs of a Geisha." Vivian's boyfriend Chang owns a bar & refuses to marry her. Michael Hui is not the most of attractive of men; so one wonders why Vivian stays in the relationship. Maggie Cheung won a Best Actress award in 1988 from the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival for "Full Moon in New York," she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress in 1992 for "Center Stage" from the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for Best Actress for Hero in 2002 by Hong Kong Film Awards & won the Best Actress award for "Clean" from the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. Neither Gong Li nor Maggie Cheung have ever been nominated for an Oscar, which is surprising. As Jean, she roams Hong Kong with a walkman, a chip on her shoulder & a prominent facial scar. As we learn her story, we question her mental stability, but also see how people can live inside their dreams. It is a powerful performance. As Jim, Ruben Blades plays guitar and comes to stay with John periodically depending on the ups & downs of his love life. "The Chinese Box" is a slow lyrical film, but I found it moving with great visuals from Hong Kong. Enjoy!
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A moving portrait of a relationship and a moment in history
Added 7/14/2008
From the DVD cover: "Jeremy Irons stars as John, a British journalist living in Hong Kong. John has fallen in love with Vivian (Gong Li), a bartender with a jaded past. Vivian is eager to secure her position in Hong Kong society and wants her successful boyfriend Chang to marry her. When Chang proves to be indecisive about their relationship, Vivian turns to John. Giving into their feelings for a brief but passionate affair, they now face inevitable change and unexpected obstacles in this touching and compelling film."
Nothing else I have seen or read captures the poignant and slightly fevered atmosphere of Hong Kong in the months leading up to the 1997 handover. The relationship between John (Irons) and Vivian (Gong Li), and what we learn of Maggie Cheung's character's past relationship (?) with her schooldays English boyfriend, seem to mirror aspects of the political and cultural relationship between the British and Hong Kong Chinese. The ending is deeply moving.
This film is infinitely superior and almost entirely different in terms of plot, and indeed everything else, from Paul Theroux's disappointing novel, Kowloon Tong, that apparently inspired the makers of this film.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Good, but, ...................
Added 6/1/2008
to say the least this movie can REALLY confuse viewers if they try to understand characters motives. The Hong Kong backdrop IS interesting and adds a unique flavor to the film. Having Jeremy Irons as the lead only adds class and professionalism to any film he appears in.
The reason for 3 stars: I can't remember the last film that had so many CONFUSED people in it. Irons portrays an ex - pat Brit who has a wife and kids back in England. They might be divorced. That point is not made clear. He has the hots for a Chinese woman who belongs to someone else. He finds out that he has a terminal disease leaving him only 3-6 months to live. If he seeks this eternal love of her or an LTR then why does he want to pursue this anyway? He knows he will be dead soon!! Kind of self centered if you ask me. The other supporting characters are just as mixed up in their own way if not more so.
I'm calling this film good and worth watching because it is different, but, because of the confused supporting cast I'm taking away 2 stars.
5 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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.........LIFE IN HONG KONG 1996/1997..............
Added 7/17/2007
I loved this DVD...thanks to Jeremy Irons, the gorgeous/beautiful Gong Li and Maggie Cheung...people have to be cognizant that living in Asia is alot different than in USA...I can't get enough of both Chinese actresses...their natural beauty, in different light, I may add....Gong Li is a perfect physical package who matriculates her art so very well and Maggie Cheung has big dark eyes to drown in with ectasy and another thing with envious reviewers doting on Gong Li and her limited English...I don't care about that at all...she 'talks with her eyes and facial expressions'....far better than any English prose...I love this Chinese thespian just the way she is...both these Chinese actresses 'speak volumes' in their depiction of what Asian women demand [respect]....I was saddened to see this intenational film come to and end...great shots of Hong Kong and all the enviromental trials and tribulations of a different culture, I dare say......SSGT CHRIS SARNO-USMC FMF
5 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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A waste of Li and Irons:Wang...what's Up?
Added 7/3/2007
THIS WAS AWFUL!!Usually I can find something positive to say about a film, but not with CHINESE BOX!
If you choose to waste 99 minutes with a film that is absolutely ridiculous be my guest.How could someone such as Wayne Wang who directed THE JOY LUCK CLUB and actors Gong Li (RAISE THE RED LANTERN) and Jeremy Irons (just about everything for thirty years) have ever held their heads up after this bomb!!! It is obvious that Gong Li was chosen for her crossover fame and NOT her ability to speak English!!! She is given lines such as "What?", "Yes" and the most important "No". Irons is the same if not worse as in his sex-crazed lover role in LOLITA (which was tons better).
1997 Hong Kong is in the midst of British Colonial Rule ending.What will happen to it's culture,it's society etc. as the Chinese regain rule? If that is the story then something really got lost in translation in this internationally produced debacle.This screenplay is absolutely one of the worst that I have ever sat through. The acting is simply misdirected.CHINESE BOX is ludicrous. 0 stars.
2 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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Inside a Dream
Added 9/16/2008
Wayne Wang's "The Chinese Box" was in the budget bin @ our local video store; so I took a chance. The slow-paced film produces some excellent delights. Jeremy Irons who won his Oscar for "Reversal of Fortune" in 1980 plays John, a British citizen living in Hong Kong right before the turnover of control to the Chinese. As John, Irons is expressive in an unrequited love for Vivian. He deals with his serious medical condition and says goodbye to that which he loves most dearly. Gong Li is elegant as Vivian. She expresses so much with a look from her eyes. Li has won four major acting awards which are the Volpi Cup for Best Actress from the Venice International Film Festival for "The Story of Qiu Ju" in 1992, a supporting award from the New York Film Critics Circle for "Farewell My Concubine" in 1993, Best Actress from the Montreal World Film Festival for "Piaoliang Mama," & a support award in 2005 from the National Board of Review for "Memoirs of a Geisha." Vivian's boyfriend Chang owns a bar & refuses to marry her. Michael Hui is not the most of attractive of men; so one wonders why Vivian stays in the relationship. Maggie Cheung won a Best Actress award in 1988 from the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival for "Full Moon in New York," she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress in 1992 for "Center Stage" from the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for Best Actress for Hero in 2002 by Hong Kong Film Awards & won the Best Actress award for "Clean" from the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. Neither Gong Li nor Maggie Cheung have ever been nominated for an Oscar, which is surprising. As Jean, she roams Hong Kong with a walkman, a chip on her shoulder & a prominent facial scar. As we learn her story, we question her mental stability, but also see how people can live inside their dreams. It is a powerful performance. As Jim, Ruben Blades plays guitar and comes to stay with John periodically depending on the ups & downs of his love life. "The Chinese Box" is a slow lyrical film, but I found it moving with great visuals from Hong Kong. Enjoy!
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
A moving portrait of a relationship and a moment in history
Added 7/14/2008
From the DVD cover: "Jeremy Irons stars as John, a British journalist living in Hong Kong. John has fallen in love with Vivian (Gong Li), a bartender with a jaded past. Vivian is eager to secure her position in Hong Kong society and wants her successful boyfriend Chang to marry her. When Chang proves to be indecisive about their relationship, Vivian turns to John. Giving into their feelings for a brief but passionate affair, they now face inevitable change and unexpected obstacles in this touching and compelling film."
Nothing else I have seen or read captures the poignant and slightly fevered atmosphere of Hong Kong in the months leading up to the 1997 handover. The relationship between John (Irons) and Vivian (Gong Li), and what we learn of Maggie Cheung's character's past relationship (?) with her schooldays English boyfriend, seem to mirror aspects of the political and cultural relationship between the British and Hong Kong Chinese. The ending is deeply moving.
This film is infinitely superior and almost entirely different in terms of plot, and indeed everything else, from Paul Theroux's disappointing novel, Kowloon Tong, that apparently inspired the makers of this film.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Good, but, ...................
Added 6/1/2008
to say the least this movie can REALLY confuse viewers if they try to understand characters motives. The Hong Kong backdrop IS interesting and adds a unique flavor to the film. Having Jeremy Irons as the lead only adds class and professionalism to any film he appears in.
The reason for 3 stars: I can't remember the last film that had so many CONFUSED people in it. Irons portrays an ex - pat Brit who has a wife and kids back in England. They might be divorced. That point is not made clear. He has the hots for a Chinese woman who belongs to someone else. He finds out that he has a terminal disease leaving him only 3-6 months to live. If he seeks this eternal love of her or an LTR then why does he want to pursue this anyway? He knows he will be dead soon!! Kind of self centered if you ask me. The other supporting characters are just as mixed up in their own way if not more so.
I'm calling this film good and worth watching because it is different, but, because of the confused supporting cast I'm taking away 2 stars.
5 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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