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Chinese Box

1997

Wayne Wang

Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Ricky Hui ...

6.3

2,223

Romance. Drama New Year's Eve 1996. John (Jeremy Iron) is 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 ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Stephen Holden The New York Times	"A poetically resonant movie (...) The pulses of anxiety and anticipation gripping the city like a fever during the transition animate every frame of this mournfully lyrical film. (...) Essentially is a poetic meditation on the meaning of Hong Kong."	POS
United Kingdom	Tony Rayns Time Out	"Ludicrously contrived incidents are garnished with desultory dialogue (...) The average tourist with a camcorder would see the city more clearly than this."	NEG
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"I have always been drawn toward stories of exile and expatriation, of people living as strangers in strange lands. I enjoy their bittersweet longing for other places and other friends (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Russell Smith Austin Chronicle	"Even acknowledging this movie's high school lit journal pretensions and failure to deliver the insights for which it strains so mightily, there's a touching fervor and authenticity here that makes it compelling to watch (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	David Rooney Variety	"This tale of impossible cross-cultural love is rendered dreary by lukewarm chemistry between stars Jeremy Irons and Gong Li, and a script that provides no character depth"	NEG

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