The Joy Luck Club

I'd read the book a few years ago and was stunned by how well-written it was. The imagery, the story-telling, the connections, and just the beauty of the prose made it so enjoyable. So when I saw the film I had to give it a try. To my delight, many of the exact words from the book made it into the film.If you are looking for a movie with a clear sense of direction, this might not be the film for you. It is a film about love, loss, and the relational disconnect between mothers and daughters. 4 Chinese women come to America hoping to create a better life for their children, only to find that their 4 daughters have become more American than Chinese. The daughters have different lifestyles, different goals, different struggles that the mothers struggle to understand, yet all parties involved genuinely long for a deep, meaningful relationship. And in the end, they find that connection in their own ways, discovering that their differing circumstances have more in common than meets the eye. It was so wholesome to watch.

Joy Luck Club is based upon the famous book by Amy Tan. There was no way it could include the entire book so it just selected a few of the stories to adapt. The film like the novel is about four mothers, their four daughters, and tradition. It opens with a poem about a mother’s wish for her family as they came to America. The swan in the story represents the hope for a better future the immigrant parents put into their American born children. This proved to be a burden the four daughters struggled with because they didn’t know or appreciate what their parents had gone through. In the first story for instance, a daughter rebels against her mother’s, Kieu Chinh, demand that she play piano and when that escalates to an argument the daughter retaliates by bringing up the fact that her mom abandoned two babies during the Chinese Civil War. The plot focuses upon whether the two generations can reconcile or not. I thought this was a fantastic version of the book. It brings through the pain and suffering that the mothers went through which to me was more interesting than the daughters’ plights. It was a very touching portrayal.

When I received my order I was disappointed because I thought I had ordered the book & it was the movie…..when I contacted Amazon to request a refund, there was No hassle, it was handled instantly & Amazon let me keep the DVD….Excellent service!

Kind of movie that can change a person. AWESOME 👏 👏👏👏👏

Good movie

I still enjoy watching this movie from time to time, even 30 years after its release. While it does highlight the cultural and generational differences, it really shows complicated mother/daughter relationships. In the end, it honors the unconditional love that mothers have for their daughters. And that is timeless!

Excellent Movie

Not normally a "chick flick" sort of guy but this film reduced me to tears. It might even be more relevant in 2023 than in 1993 when it 1st came out!

No spoilers in this review.I watched this film many years ago and enjoyed it. I had it on my wish list and needing an extra item to make up my order to free delivery decided to treat myself to it. It explores the Mother/Daughter relationships over three generations and two different cultures, formed by personal experiences, expectations and desires; as well as the bonds of 'sisterhood' that form within friendships. The unfolding life histories of the mothers in the film (Chinese immigrants to the USA) reminded me to 'never judge a book by it's cover', and how motherhood bestows a great strength on body and mind.The message it gave me was how, as women, in all cultures 'we' are sublimely (and sometimes openly) constrained by the system; even though deep down we have the want to be autonomous & be true to ourselves, and to pass this onto our daughters. It made me think of the saying "educate a man and you educate a person: educate a woman and you educate the world". The hard-learned essential life skills that are passed on between the generations of characters in this film are not found in any text book, and are still relevant today.Definitely a thought-provoking, tear-jerker. I watch the dvds I buy many times and find that each time I notice something about the characters or the issues that I 'missed' before; I'm sure that Joy Luck Club will be one of those.

This has always been, and will always be a classic for me. I also feel like a pleb admitting it here, but it also brings on the tears lol.It follows the story of a group of Chinese grandmothers, the struggles they faced as children themselves and their relationships with their daughters.It also focuses on June, whose mother Suyuan (a close member of the grandmothers circle of friends) has just passed away. During the wake, the grandmothers and daughters various stories are relayed as short stories surrounding their various relationships with their own mothers and kin.I don't want to get into it too much as this is a product review and not IMDB (lol), but will say this movie is, at times, light-hearted, extremely moving, sometimes shocking and all round enjoyable!For those who wish to know, this movie is in English but has various subtitles and (probably) audio options too.

Great film, shame about the subtitles ! It took me a while to work out how to get English subtitles, watched it with Spanish subtitles for a good part of the film. Probably my own fault, as I'm not good with technology, and working things out.

The Joy Luck Club [DVD] [1994]Tamlyn Tomita (Actor), Rosalind Chao (Actor), Wayne Wang (Director) Rated: Suitable for 15 years and over Format: DVDI am a teacher of English in Holland and after having read the book, called ''The Joy Luck Club'' with my students, we watched this film.The film is truly beautiful and spellbinding. It is as good as the book. The story is about several Chinese women, who emigrated to the USA and it tells about their personal tragedies in China. Then it also gives insight about their daughters, who live their American life. There's lots of drama and true emotions. The story has been wonderfully filmed with great actors and actresses, the music is fantastic too, so all in all I can truly recommand this film to everyone. Greetings from Holland, Mieneke Andeweg.

Unfortunately the disc stuck on several occasions & ultimately wouldn't allow us to view the final scene! Ooops!Fortunately, I have read the book, which is excellent.