The Joy Luck Club

What’s the Story?

THE JOY LUCK CLUB, adapted from Amy Tan's bestselling novel, chronicles the past and present lives of a group of Chinese-American women living in present-day San Francisco. Told through a series of complex flashbacks, this film interrogates the childhoods and marriages/relationships of four sets of mothers and daughters. From a mother forced to abandon her babies in war-torn China to a Chinese-American chess prodigy oppressed by her mother's pride, these women live through physical, emotional, familial, and sexual turmoil. All eight struggle to find peace and strength within themselves and attempt to pass it on to their own daughters.

Is It Any Good?

This film truly is a masterpiece that presents the heart-wrenching stories of eight different women and steers clear of lapsing into sugary melodrama. The film serves as a seldom-seen meaty vehicle for Asian-American actors. Rarely does one see a film that engages so thoughtfully with its female characters.

Alternating from traditional Chinese clothing to Americanized tailored men's and women's suits to contemporary business and casual wear, the costume design uses line, color, and style to help transport the viewer from place to place and communicate the characters' places within varying periods of divided societies. Come prepared with a box of tissues. The cumulative effect of the various stories may leave the viewer reaching for a hanky or two. Mothers and daughters might enjoy viewing this film together as a means of sparking discussion about their own relationships.