Review of The Joy Luck Club (1993) by Brian R — 17 Jan 2013

Four older women, all Asian immigrants living in San Francisco, meet regularly to play mahjong, eat, and tell stories. Each of these women has an adult Asian-American daughter. The film reveals the hidden pasts of the older women and their daughter's lives shaped by the clash of Chinese and American cultures as they strive to understand their family bonds and one another.

Not sure what to say except that this picture moved me in a lot of ways. I noticed the family get togethers that is identical to how real family get togethers is like, how old friends visit each other once a week to play a game and tell stories from the past, how each character goes through pain and loss and how that painful chapter is passed on to their daughters in the future. The film isn't all pain in sorrow more about memory. The women portrayed in "The Joy Luck Club" find their peace and redemption and in a way, it is a personal triumph. The characters who struck me the most was between Waverly (Tamlyn Tomita) and her mother Lindo (Tsai Chin) I am not Asian nor female but as I was watching the film, I could have sworn those two actresses portrayed acurately how me and my mother would act in real life and the differences we have which made me gasp and laugh altogether. Tomita and Chin have a chemistry so uncanny, so real, and so belivable that I didn't want their scenes to end.

There is more to the film and the third act really takes one's breath away imo. This is a highly recommended picture everyone should get a chance to see this. TJLC has an Asian cast (In the film, we see some Asians marry whites) but I believe everyone of all races can accept this picture and relate to it more ways then one. This is one of the two films I have seen by Wayne Wang. The other one being "The Center Of The World". A film like "The Joy Luck Club" reminds of why I go to the cinema...To learn more about people and to hopefully remember and grow to admire the same characters for future viewings.