Home :: DVD :: Hong Kong Action  

Action & Adventure
African American Cinema
Animation
Anime & Manga
Art House & International
Boxed Sets
Christian DVD
Classics
Comedy
Cult Movies
Documentary
Drama
Educational
Fitness & Yoga
Gay & Lesbian
Hong Kong Action

Horror
Independently Distributed
Kids & Family
Military & War
Music Video & Concerts
Musicals & Performing Arts
Mystery & Suspense
Romantic Comedies
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Special Interests
Sports
Television
Westerns
Chinese Box

Chinese Box

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Color
  • Closed-captioned
  • Dolby
  • Widescreen


Description:

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
© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates