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Pavilion of Women

Play trailer Poster for Pavilion of Women R Released May 4, 2001 1h 56m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
6% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Madame Wu (Luo Yan), an aristocrat's wife, yearns to expand her intellectual horizons now that her two sons are grown. She arranges for a concubine to come to the house to distract her husband while she pursues her own studies, which leads her to Andre, an American missionary doctor (Willem Dafoe), with whom she soon falls in love...
Pavilion of Women

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Generating more suds than a soap opera, this adaptation of Pearl Buck's novel sinks under the weight of excess melodrama, stilted performances, and cheesy dialogue.

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Critics Reviews

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Robert Koehler Variety In many ways, this is the East Asian equivalent of the old Europudding productions, where international players have created something that's more cacaphonous than melodious. Jun 11, 2001 Full Review Michael Rechtshaffen The Hollywood Reporter Despite solid performances and handsome production values, the picture ultimately feels like secondhand goods that have been refurbished for North American consumption. May 11, 2001 Full Review Mark Jenkins Washington Post An instant antique. Rated: 1.5/5 May 4, 2001 Full Review Betsy Bozdech DVDJournal.com On the whole, you'd be better off catching a couple of hours of 'Days of Our Lives.' Rated: 1.5/4 Sep 4, 2006 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Oct 6, 2005 Full Review Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com The only importance anyone is likely to associate with this overblown melodrama is self-importance. Rated: 2/4 Sep 17, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Had so much potential , if a better script Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Not the end-all-&-be-all... but it was good, had a lot of emotion, romanticism, cultural... Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Got to love RT's American Critics...who are so ignorant and insensitive to any other culture than their own that it's like a mirror to their government's foreign policy...with a rating of 6% by these Hollywood Propaganda-conditioned no-minds -- I can almost bet every time that it's going to be a great movie -- and in this case I was not disappointed! Gorgeous cinematography and period Chinese set-pieces and architecture combined with a very Romantic script made this a very enjoyable referential one-off. Well Executed! (Pun Intended). Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Okay, we've all seen Memoirs of a Geisha. 85 million dollar budget, mixed cast from several different backgrounds, made for American audiences - alright, this seems familiar. Now totally wipe that out of your head before you watch this movie. With roughly a 5 million dollar budget in comparison, this movie had far less flexibility in picking their supporting cast to expect the acting to not be a little over-exaggerated or off kilter at times. From beginning to end, the movie fluctuates between dramatic, personal scenes meant to pull you into the moment and tug at your thinker, sporting genuine and heart-felt acting by Willem Dafoe, Yan Luo, Yi Ding, and John Cho, and then explodes into what may seem sometimes ridiculous or cheesy by some of the lesser known cast. I have not read the book it was apparently based on, yet the movie had a beautifully tragic plot with all ranges of acting and an interesting look at pre-WWII China. The story is meant to have a more serious, dry tone and if you can look past your 2012 movie expectations and really watch the story unfold, it's definitely a movie worth watching. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member I found this a very interesting film. It displayed customs and traditions of pre WWII society. A romantic tragedy worth seeing. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A story about love and the sacrifices for love. I was really impressed by John Cho's performance as well as Luo Yan's; both of their characters (son and mother) feel trapped (by his father- her husband). He finds love with his father's second wife (who is his own age) while his mother falls for a missionary. Powerful. Simply powerful. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Pavilion of Women

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Madame Wu (Luo Yan), an aristocrat's wife, yearns to expand her intellectual horizons now that her two sons are grown. She arranges for a concubine to come to the house to distract her husband while she pursues her own studies, which leads her to Andre, an American missionary doctor (Willem Dafoe), with whom she soon falls in love...
Director
Yim Ho
Producer
Luo Yan
Screenwriter
Luo Yan, Paul R. Collins, Pearl S. Buck
Distributor
Universal Focus
Production Co
Silver Dream Productions
Rating
R (War Images|Sexuality)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 4, 2001, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
Aug 24, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA)
$35.9K
Runtime
1h 56m
Sound Mix
Surround