The Joy Luck Club

R

Released Sep 8, 1993

2 hr. 18 min.

Drama

List

86%

85 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In San Francisco, a group of aging Chinese women (Kiều Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu) meet regularly to trade familial stories while playing Mahjong. In a series of sixteen vignettes that spans generations and continents, this adaptation of Amy Tan's bestselling novel explores cultural conflict and the often-turbulent relationships between four first-generation Chinese-American women (Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, Rosalind Chao) and their mothers.

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Critics Consensus

The Joy Luck Club traces the generational divide, unearthing universal truths while exploring lives through the lens of a specific cultural experience.

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Jerod S

The original story is so well written and solid - and the movie sticks to it. Cultural and generational issues between moms and daughters from China.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/16/24

Full Review

Kyle M

Common tropes across different pictures that are motivated politically, socially and culturally generate a societal consensus, which then are genetically amplified upon generational diversions but remain arguably similar despite improved livelihood. This continues the unfolding coverage of generational heft apparently traumatized in one form or another being withheld within, whether out of stubbornness or protection which only fuels the spawned angsty being disrespectfully unaware. There couldn't possibly be an absolute solution if the healing process is that simple that could erase the shared and experienced circumstances only wisely guided towards the marital exit. Based on Amy Tan's book, "The Joy Luck Club" coasts on those continuous beliefs with layered complexity that enriches in thematic value. The club consists of four aging Chinese women who meets regularly playing mahjong and share their stories, either about their struggling pasts and/or proudness over their daughters that were born American. However, one of their own recently passed, so that daughter received news from her fellow aunties about a resolving antidote to her late-mother's haunted conscience regarding older twin sisters that were thought lost. In a kickoff party, the hidden pasts are reflected in how the family bonds were tested through the culturally clashing struggles between the first-generation Chinese-American women and their mothers whose lives were hypocritically conformed from one homeland to another. Poetically driven, framed by the opening poem speaking about a swan flying over new horizons but separately not a whole as the last feather can only be gifted to the offspring in hope for better beginning. The talk of identity that the characters grapples with becomes clearer when re-listening to that poem after digesting all the thematic components they face by generational division as it consistently shapes their lives onto the next with a hint of increased brightness once the mothers unpack their baggage and their daughters finds the right guidance from them. Therefore resolving the given challenges with newfound understanding and inspired charges over their mental wellbeing. That's not only the case for them but also the same gone for the mothers when they were coming of age facing conservative cases that were pre-established as traditions by differential culture (how that particular culture doesn't feel shame with mismatched trouble is beyond comprehension). Culturally aligned finds expectancy and obedience underling sexism, then other themes coloring their struggles are generic from vocal silence to manipulation, financial and abusive, while facing possible discrimination over given statuses. We find the mothers overcome what they experienced despite personally withheld over the years as they recollect themselves, only to re-ignite that conservative fire and re-taught their lessons onto their daughters' exploring individualism, who also been confronted by genetically repeating history when experiencing the societal conformations their mothers. That's possibly a reflection over pressured lifestyle as immigrants wanting to live their lives under different conformations but less restrictive, but the inner motives have been deemed more personal and linked towards their bonds. One instance as such finds one of the daughters possessing all the confirmed weight onto her marriage till confronted by realization she has a voice, and her husband supports her voice based on acknowledged perception. Despite not having the time to check the book out, the film adaptation enrichingly boasts the thematically hefty materials with generational patterns across its transitionally impressive narrative. The stories may be thematically familiar by margin, it's the complex compilation linking across adjacent associations since normally they would be emphasized singularly. It captivates these stories, albeit to certain sorrowful degrees, as the narrative seamlessly transitions from the mother's history to that of the daughter's with occasional shares partially reacting to notable symbolism. Author Amy Tan penned the page-to-screen treatment, with the help of Ronald Bass to define an accessible platform in reasonably delivering these stories, hence the farewell party and its narrative hook that reflectively weave across the grasped perspectives' notions for nonlinear engagement. That also acts as an opportunity for additional materials when we formally identify the characters we're given a solid glimpse of their current nuances. Just going chronological as once thought would've dampened both identification and the story's impacts, especially when only revisiting flashbacks like one of the club's typical sessions. Framed by the poem through haunts and dissatisfactions to blossomed cherishment, the final scene caps the beautiful, meaningful buildup towards a hopeful message as a summed statement. "The Joy Luck Club" intrigued when "Crazy Rich Asians" came out 25 years later, remarking a rare Hollywood gimmick featuring an all-Asian cast. Kieu Chinh and Ming-Na Wen portrays Suyuan and June Woo, Tsai Chin and Tamlyn Tomita as Lindo and Waverly Jong, France Nuyen and Lauren Tom as Ying-Ying and Lena St. Clair, then finally Lisa Lu and Rosalind Chao as An-Mei and Rose Hsu, all the mothers and daughters respectively. They all performed splendidly with pleasant charm as their performative executions of the assigned themes are at times strong when pushed to their discomforting edge, and graceful commitment laced as expressive gravitas that touches the wisdom and the pursued truth, while then also worked well off of each other through their cherished chemistries. Between the excellent cast and the thematic complexity being structurally relishing, "The Joy Luck Club" gets discovered as a relaxing gathering between friends with analytical layers, signifying a promising, solid good time in which you could learn a thing or two – or more depends on the relatable case. (B+)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/19/23

Full Review

Rajesh B

This film's narrative flow is much like a play. Told in chapters and performed wonderfully. It confirms the stereotype of Chinese culture and lifestyle but justifies it with a need to through the hardships of history. A definite watch.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/03/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Still one of my absolute favorites...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/07/22

Full Review

Audience Member

“No matter what I do, I cannot be more than what I am. And that hurts.”

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/02/22

Full Review

robert p

A great look at oriental people and how they adjust to living in the USA!!!!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Wayne Wang

Director

Rosalind Chao

Rose Hsu Jordan

Tamlyn Tomita

Waverly Jong

France Nuyen

Ying-Ying St. Clair

Vivian Wu

An Mei's Mother

Andrew McCarthy

Ted Jordan

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Mary F. Chen

Seattle Times

Both generations are fearful of revealing their true identities, yet hopeful of discovery. This is the greatest truth of The Joy Luck Club, both the film and the novel.

Dec 17, 2020

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

The film persists in telling us what to think and feel, rather than letting us have our own quiet thoughts.

Dec 17, 2020

Full Review

Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

This heartrending and transcendent adaptation of Amy Tan's bestseller about a quartet of Chinese American daughters and their immigrant mothers is the ultimate movie about almost everyone's first love: Mom.

Rated: 4/4

Dec 17, 2020

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Wang goes from homey intimacy to the political whirlwinds of China seamlessly, a one piece texture, without showing its seams. [Full review in Spanish]

Jun 7, 2022

Full Review

Molly Haskell

Ladies' Home Journal

No one will want to miss this celebration of the mother- daughter bond, that most vexed and fascinating of relationships -- and one of the most neglected themes in American film.

Aug 4, 2021

Full Review

Marshall Fine

Gannett News Service

The ensemble cast is perfect... All of the women playing the daughters Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita and Ming-Na Wen are equally strong, though Wen and Tomita are particularly affecting.

Rated: 4/4

Dec 17, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

In San Francisco, a group of aging Chinese women (Kiều Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu) meet regularly to trade familial stories while playing Mahjong. In a series of sixteen vignettes that spans generations and continents, this adaptation of Amy Tan's bestselling novel explores cultural conflict and the often-turbulent relationships between four first-generation Chinese-American women (Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, Rosalind Chao) and their mothers.

Director: Wayne Wang
Executive Producer: Oliver Stone, Janet Yang
Screenwriter: Amy Tan, Ronald Bass
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Hollywood Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 8, 1993, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.8M
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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