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Chinese Box

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Chinese Box (1997)

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Reviews Counted:20

Fresh:12

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6.3/10

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Hong Kong-born American director Wayne Wang returned to the city in 1990 to make the gritty street-level thriller LIFE IS CHEAP...BUT TOILET PAPER IS EXPENSIVE. In 1997, with the city on the verge... Hong Kong-born American director Wayne Wang returned to the city in 1990 to make the gritty street-level thriller LIFE IS CHEAP...BUT TOILET PAPER IS EXPENSIVE. In 1997, with the city on the verge of the British handing the colony back to the Chinese, he returned for a different look. In CHINESE BOX, Jeremy Irons plays John, an English journalist moving among the Chinese business elite and British officials at expensive nightclubs. However, the politics of transition are seen through the prism of his personal relationships. He is in love with Vivian (Gong Li), a woman he meets in Beijing who's now working at a club owned by Chang (Michael Hui), the man she wants to marry. But Chang wants to become respectable and won't marry her because of her checkered past. After a personal crisis, John goes out with a camcorder to capture images of the last days of British rule. He becomes fascinated by Jean, a mysterious woman who hides half her face behind a scarf as she darts through the streets aggressively selling strange items. Played with a manic verve by martial arts star Maggie Cheung, Jean comes to represent everything that is strange and enigmatic about Hong Kong. Taken from a story by Paul Theroux and written by Jean-Claude Carrière, a frequent collaborator with Luis Buñuel, CHINESE BOX is a thoughtful, realistic blend of individual lives set against a large historical backdrop. [More]

Starring: Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Michael Hui

Starring: Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Michael Hui, Ruben Blades

Director: Wayne Wang

Director: Wayne Wang
Screenwriter: Larry Gross
Composer: Graeme Revell
Producer: Jean-Louis Piel, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Wayne Wang

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Chinese Box

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
David Rooney
David Rooney
Variety
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N/R

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Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/07/09
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
rec.arts.movies.reviews
N/R

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Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
10/10/05
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/11/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/01/05
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com

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Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/17/04
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
11/14/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Jim Shelby
Jim Shelby
Palo Alto Weekly
N/R

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Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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No review available.

comment Comment
12/18/02
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

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Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix
N/R

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Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/06/02
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

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Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/12/02
Globe and Mail
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Full Review Source: Movieline | comment Comment
03/04/02
Movieline
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Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
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Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies
 
 
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