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List Price: $14.98Amazon.com's Price: $8.49 You Save: $6.49 (43%)Prices subject to change.
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781588177704
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 158817770X
Label: Lions Gate
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Lions Gate
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 09, 2003
Running Time: 99 minutes
Sales Rank: 29717
Studio: Lions Gate
Theatrical Release Date: April 17, 1998
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com: Set during the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong in 1997, this fascinating film uses that urgent and grandly ceremonial political backdrop for an intimate study of personal transition. Jeremy Irons plays a seasoned journalist who discovers he is terminally ill, causing him to be torn between his obsessive love for a former prostitute (Chinese film star Li Gong) and a streetwise hustler (Maggie Cheung) whom he has chosen as the subject of a video documentary. Through his involvement in the lives of these two very different women, director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club) creates a cinematic 'love-hate letter' to his native Hong Kong, where each character is allegorical and suffers an identity crisis much like Hong Kong itself. The film's love story is somewhat aimless and ultimately unimportant, but Chinese Box (even the title suggests a place that holds secrets within its borders) remains a fascinating film in the semi-documentary tradition, capturing the psychology of its time and place with compelling immediacy. Musician/actor/politician Ruben Blades is featured in a memorable supporting role. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Inside a Dream
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 ... Read More
Rating: - A moving portrait of a relationship and a moment in history
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 ... Read More
Rating: - Good, but, ...................
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. ... Read More
Rating: - .........LIFE IN HONG KONG 1996/1997..............
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 ... Read More
Rating: - A waste of Li and Irons:Wang...what's Up?
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 ... Read More
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