Chinese Box
| Chinese Box | |
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DVD cover of Chinese Box
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| Directed by | Wayne Wang |
| Produced by |
Lydia Dean Pilcher Jean-Louis Piel Wayne Wang |
| Written by |
Jean-Claude Carrière Larry Gross Paul Theroux Wayne Wang |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Cinematography | Vilko Filac |
| Edited by | Christopher Tellefsen |
| Distributed by | Trimark Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
Chinese Box is a 1997 movie directed by Wayne Wang and starring Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Michael Hui.
The movie is set and was made at the time of Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China on June 30, 1997. The film credits Paul Theroux as a source for the story, based on themes he explores in his 1997 novel Kowloon Tong.
The movie unfolds at least nine different stories on very different levels.
First, there is John as a reporter, trying to capture interesting scenes on the streets of Hong Kong, persuading himself his work gives his life a tangible meaning.
Second, there is Vivian who is looking to find a balance in life, trying to escape from the underground she once was a part of and forget about her past, but is hindered in her attempts by prejudices that go back thousands of years in the Chinese society (including Hong Kong).
Third, there is Vivian (still), with a chance to discard most of her problems by simply marrying John and moving to England with him. Even though she is tempted to do so, she knows this would just be running away from the core of the problem and could not be a long-term solution, mostly because of their different cultural backgrounds and maybe even because of a subtle uncertainty regarding John's ex-wife and former life.
Fourth, there is Jean, with her own story and with a typical Hong Kong here-today-who-knows-where-tomorrow attitude - living the moment, enjoying and suffering at the same time, embodying a perfect reflection of modern life, especially so easily seen in Hong Kong in the late 1990s. She understands all of the different kinds of hardships that come in life and, with her face somewhat disfigured, is marked more intensly than most, but also knows where to draw the line in selling herself. John tries to help her, but does that in a dishonest way, which disappoints her tremendously. According to a note in film's credits, Jean's story was inspired by a short story by the American-British author Rachel Ingalls.
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Wikipedia