The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 50

50 THE BOSTON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1W3 'Joy Luck Club' hits its target: the heart MOVIE Continued from Page 47 ful after screenful of AHian-American stereotypes. To give you an idea of what it's replacing, you need only note that three of the four actresses playing the mothers starred a generation ago in stagings of "Flower Drum Song" or "The World of Suae Wong," and that director Wayne Wang, born in Hong Kong but raised in San Francisco, was named for John Wayne. In fact, "The Joy Luck Club" is a dream-team film of Amy Tan's popular novel. The fact that Tan collaborated on the screenplay is part of the reason the film is so faithful to the THE JOY LUCK CLUB Directed by: Wayne Wang Screenplay by: Amy Tan and Ronald Box (baaed on Tan't novel) Starring: Tmi Chin, Kieu Chink him Lu, France Nuyen, Rmdind Chaa, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita, Ming-Na Wen, Micliael Paid Chan, Andrew McCarthy, Christopher Rich, Runell Wong, Victor Wong Playing at: Copley Place, mdmrbi Rated: (ttrong depiction of dramatic material) book. The other apart from a screenful of first-rate Asian and Asian-American actresses is Wang's presence as director.

Not -I vy VA i a 11 )z 1 i v-w I ii a iitiiiii iiiiii "i inir-irii-ir-r ii- irnum im only is he superbly equipped to render the nuances of Chinese-American life; he's able to convey to non-Asian audiences, instantly and powerfully, the huge differences between Chinese and Chinese-American perspectives. The youngest generation of Chinese women we see, all twentysomething, consider themselves American with a Chinese side to their lives. Which means only that they are dealing with a set of problems different from those of their mothers, whose stories emerge as they welcome into their mah jongg foursome the daughter of one of its longtime members who recently died. The difference between the mothers and daughters, insofar as it can be summed up simply, is that the Chinese-born mothers live through brutal circumstances by squelching their emotions, while their American-born daughters make trouble for themselves by denying their personalities. The mothers, in short, are tougher, but because they don't talk about their love for their daughters, both suffer.

When they do snap out of their ruts, they're unbeatable. France Nuyen's character, for instance, has been subject to depressions since moving to the United States following the breakup of her marriage to a cruel Chinese man after an infanticide. Her daughter, played by Lauren Tom, has picked up on her mother's sadness and muted herself into invisibility. But when her mother sees how her daughter is trapied in a cold, gray marriage in a cold, gray house, she comes around like a tigress. So, too, with Rosalind Chao, as a woman who has abandoned her art career after marrying rich pretty-boy Andrew McCarthy, not realizing that it was her spirit that attracted him to her and that it's her self- EL TjL- Gibson fe- "Wonderfully WINNING.

Gilwon liinM." 1 -IVrtVol. IHMOHOl and hmrtfrll." I -lil "Ilmake.voul 4 5 -KnKrnl. 2 wiiuT Yu Fel Hong plays an oppressed woman whose tragic life shapes the destiny of the next two generations of her family In "The Joy Luck Club." nssSSS WES-I Uii-- NOW PLAYING abasement that has put their marriage in jeopardy. She, too, learns from her mother's story of her mother, a rae victim forced into concubinage, unable to value herself sufficiently. Tamlyn Tomita is the sleekly assured one, but only on the outside.

When she finally cries out to her dominating mother, Tsai Chin, "You don't know the power you have over me," the old lady cracks a smile and they get along better, even though the younger woman is planning to marry a white man a piece of news to which her mother reacts with world-class coolness. LOtWS Of NINAL CINEMA SMOWCAU CiMIMAt GINEMAL CINEMA LOtWl (OPLfYPUCf CKESTNUTHIU REVERE BRAINTREE 10 SALEM mwmm MM m. NMUOMa n. ifl, CI toui.l M. ON 101111.

It! IT IM lAff iMCllA MAlt 166-1300 i7T-i500 116-1660 I 848-1070 741-IM. W-47W Late (how tonigw at Revere. NO PASSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT mostly means to be a tear-jerker. It's a first-rate one, playing out its big, bold emotions both primally and with subtlety as it puts its women through some real tests of strength and puts an upbeat spin on their struggles through obstacles as diverse as wars and guilt trips. In a time when too many movies tftr women apart (insofar as they pay intention to women at all), this one takes a loving and admiring its mothers and daughters, celebrating their often turbulent but always profound bonding.

If ever there was a women's picture, 'The Joy Luck Club" is it but I can't believe it won't strike a chord with anyone who has a mother. SPEC EM PffiV EW Most touching of all is Ming-Na Wen's gentle daughter who learns she has two half-sisters in China and resolves to go meet them, bringing full circle the story that begins with her mother journeying to America. There's culture-clash humor in The Joy Luck Club," and even a few lessons on what not to say, but there's never a moment's doubt that the film TONIGHT 0D-j i "SPECTACULARLY FUNNY! The Ultimate Party Movie. Socially Irresponsible And Totally Irresistible." TONE MAGAZINE frtw Trtvfft, ROIUN 'THE MOST SLYLY FUNNY AND DEAD-OII PORTRAIT OF AMERICAN TEENAGE LIFE EVER MADE." (Ml Owm eiiibtmni, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 01 3202313 "SEE THIS MOVIE AT ALL COSTS. IT'S HYSTERICAL!" Chris Minify ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE "I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED this movie! Absolutely perfect." -ChiMlm, SASSVMACAZIHE At MM'Tf DE I i PRICE ENTERTAINMENT IN ASSOCIATION WITH PENTA ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS A TRIBECA PRODUCTION ROBERT DENIRO "A BRONX TALE" CHAZZ PALMINTERI producer PETER GATIEN 1 CHAZZ PALMINTERI Kay JANE ROSENTHAL, JON KILIK AND ROBERT DENIRO "EC1S ROBERT DENIRO nirrmcTio SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE ON TBIBECA MUSICEPIC SOUNDTRAX A SAVOY PICTURES RELEASE SAVOY PICTURES fWinIllin KMimiiHl anniniitillY msmJAMESJUCKS SEAKDW Loews NATICK SNEAK PREVIEW TONIGHT WUIeiMNitlMI LOEWS CHERI mum n.

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