Moral Fables For Mums, Daughters
The Sun Herald
Sunday February 20, 1994
ALTHOUGH it gradually runs out of energy during final stages of a hefty running time, The Joy Luck Club is a gently rhythmical, delicately appealing drama. This also rather stunningly makes its viewers reassess their relationships either as parents or as children.
It's based on Amy Tan's critically acclaimed, popular novel about four"traditionally" raised Chinese women and their American-born, Westernised daughters.
The film is divided, sometimes abruptly, into segments focusing on the personality-forming experiences of each key character. So, the tragic trek across an invaded China experienced by young mother Suyuan (Lieu Chinh) or the arranged marriage of rebellious teenager Lindo (Tsai Chin) is contrasted with one daughter's lack of direction in her life and another's stagnating marriage.
The result is a series of small, moral fables which examine situations common to everyone but especially pertinent to mothers and daughters.
Yes, there are structural flaws as well as the staginess of some actors unable to rise to the dramatic occasion. But this has kept the essence of the book. Joy Luck Club is one of those smart movies which is filled with Chinese cultural details and so flavoursome that it will fascinate any viewer.
While watching variations on the classic parent-child conflict, with Tan's sharp jabs at overly-critical (Chinese) parents and their dismissive attitude to girl-babies, the most heart-felt reaction may be of adults who are parents
Oliver Stone, the American Platoon director, produced this, making it his second film after Heaven And Earth to be told from a distinctively Asian point of view.
© 1994 The Sun Herald