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      Pavilion of Women

      R Released May 4, 2001 1 hr. 56 min. Drama List
      6% 32 Reviews Tomatometer 53% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score 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... Read More Read Less
      Pavilion of Women

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      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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      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 Post a rating

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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 Kevin Maynard Mr. Showbiz The backdrop of exotic pagodas and wartime woe isn't nearly potent enough to buoy the feeble drama that plays out in the foreground. May 17, 2001 Full Review Michael Rechtshaffen 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 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

      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
      Executive Producer
      Hugo Shong
      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
      Sound Mix
      Surround