Cast: Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, Rosalind Chao, Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu
Director: Wayne Wang
Producers: Wayne Wang, Amy Tan, Ronald Bass, and Patrick Markey
Screenplay: Amy Tan and Ronald Bass based on the novel by Amy Tan
Cinematography: Amir M. Mokri
Music: Rachel Portman
U.S. Distributor: Hollywood Pictures
In English and Chinese with English subtitles
The Joy Luck Club, as stated in the movie's opening narrative, is a collection of four aging Chinese women bound together more by hope than joy or luck. The four women - Suyuan (Kieu Chinh), Lindo (Tsai Chin), Ying Ying (France Nuyen), and An Mei (Lisa Lu) - came to America many years ago to escape China's feudal society for the promise of the United States' democracy. Now, however, Suyuan has died and the three surviving members of the club invite her daughter June (Ming-Na Wen) to take her place. June belongs to the "new" generation, those of Chinese heritage who grew up speaking English and learning American customs. Also of roughly the same age are Waverly (Tamlyn Tomita), Lindo's daughter; Lena (Lauren Tom), Ying Ying's daughter; and Rose (Rosalind Chao), An Mei's daughter. The Joy Luck Club tells of the varied difficulties and tragedies involved in these mother/daughter relationships.
Co-writer Ronald Bass (who, along with Amy Tan, adapted from Tan's novel) says that there are sixteen separate stories in The Joy Luck Club. Since I didn't count, I can't verify this statement, but it sounds about right. Taken as a whole, these vignettes combine to lend greater meaning to the whole. The Joy Luck Club is the sum total of its parts with common themes giving solid grounding and greater resonance to the overall film. As Bass comments, "I saw all the mothers' and daughters' stories as facets of the same experience. Put together, they formed a mosaic. That's the genius of the book, and if we cut it down to just a couple of stories it would be like any other movie."
The stories are not related in such a manner as to seem pared down or truncated, nor is their presentation confusing, thanks to a cleverly-orchestrated framing scene with the principal characters gathered together. However, it is apparent that a lot more could have been told, and we're left wondering about all that we didn't get to see. The characters are mostly well-developed, but it's tantalizing to consider how much fuller some of them could have been with a different plot structure.
The Joy Luck Club is clearly - perhaps too clearly - an adaptation of a book. The dialogue is often too poetic to be real, and the story too clearly plotted to be acceptable as anything more than an imperfect reflection of the world we live in. The line between drama and melodrama is a fine one, and, while The Joy Luck Club most often successfully navigates the tightrope, there are times when it slips and comes across as heavy-handed. This film is no stranger to moments of manipulation.
The characters are The Joy Luck Club's real strength. Many are played by more than one actor (as children then adults, for example), but all transitions are smooth and seamless. It's as easy to accept both a little girl and the beautiful, sophisticated-looking Tamlyn Tomita as Waverly, and that's because the characters transcend the performers portraying them.
It's fascinating and satisfying the way the diverse threads are knitted together into a single tapestry. The Joy Luck Club's message is one of hope -- that catharsis and emotional fulfillment often come through tragedy. Sure, a lot of bad things happen during the course of this film, but at the end, the tears are of happiness and new beginnings, not loss.
© 1993 James Berardinelli