Le club de la chance

Joy Luck Club is a deeply moving film that will touch the heart and mind of anyone who opens themselves to it's messages about life.

If someone (such as darkfalz) feels this film speaks more of women's shallow choices, they miss out on humanity for the sake of superficial judgment.

This is a film about hard choices and sacrifice. It's a story of the generation gap that inevitably occurs between immigrant mother's and their daughters who were brought up surrounded by different values. Each mother strives to raise her children in a way that will bring them success and joy in life. Each hopes to free their offspring from the pains they themselves had to endure.

It is also about the Chinese way of pushing a child to be the best, and gives insight into a mother's need to see her own struggles amount to something great in her daughter. However, this is not just about Asians. It is about all parents hopes and all children's frustrations with fulfilling those dreams.

In America the story of the first generational gap is a very real and painful one. It happens for boys as much as girls, and I know a lot of men who relate to this film despite it's inherent chick flick nature. It celebrates the need to keep your roots and history alive, even if you let go of certain traditions that you were not born into.

The women in the film often make hard choices. Many of them folly and sin, but it is not a film about forgiving them so much as it is about the lasting effect of the choices we make.

Everyone should see this film. It's one of the most honest human dramas out there.

It's surprising they managed to make a movie out of The Joy Luck Club, which was, after all, a series of anecdotes by 8 different people. But somehow they did it, seamless weaving in and out of the characters' reminiscences.

Joy Luck Club could reasonably be described as a chick flick - it is, after all, a film about a bunch of women and their feelings - but that would be a disservice. "Chick flick" has become a somewhat derogatory term, partially because it was a term created by guys who find women and their feelings annoying, but to a great extent because most movies in this class are shoddy pieces of tripe like "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." If movies of women and their feelings were all this intelligent, insightful and affecting I doubt anyone would have even coined the term "chick flick." This is a movie of honest emotion that leaves you with a sense of fulfillment, a rebuke to all those manufactured, syrupy women's movies that Hollywood churns out. Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Words fail to capture the essence of this film. I read the book before I saw the movie and as anyone can tell you, the book for a movie is usually a lot better, but in this case and I think they are both on the same level. I watched this movie again for the umpteenth time today and every time I watch it I see the magic again. It makes me think of my own relationship with my mother and my relationship with my daughter. This is the story that made me feel in love with Asian film.

I think I feared seeing "The Joy Luck Club" because it just screamed chick flick all over the cover, but my mother kept insisting it was an excellent film that anyone could really enjoy. So, I let my guards down and I was pleasantly surprised by this uplifting and rewarding drama about mother's and daughter's. Just wanting what is best and growing up wisely. I know this sounds silly, but this film made me not only appreciate being an American even more, but it also made me fell better as a woman. The four "Auntie's" had such wisdom and I felt that their stories were so heart wrenching but true and realistic.

One of my friends is from China and she told me how women are treated there and it just broke my heart, watching this movie helped me realize more how much I should appreciate what I have. I even called my mother after the film and told her I loved her because she always tried her best to look out for me. The four stories of how the mother's made their journey to America and raised their daughters was very touching and the ending felt like it could only be a new beginning. I would highly recommend this movie for anyone, it's perfectly directed and acted.

8/10

I have read the book and seen the movie. I have also read reactions to both. Some really liked it and found it to be very real, while others hate it and object to the "stereotype." It seems to depend on whether you could relate to the stories, characters, or themes.

I myself could relate very well to the stories, but that could be because I too have experienced the intergenerational and intercultural conflict as an American-born Chinese daughter with a very traditional Chinese mother. Many other American-born Chinese women who were born in the 1960s could relate to the stories very well also. For us, we would start crying as soon as the first sentence is made.

I didn't experience everything that June, Rose, Lena, or Waverly went through, but on a grander scale, they are dealing with issues that I have struggled with as well.

I understand that there are other women who could relate to it as well, and these are not Chinese women--or even Asian women. Perhaps Amy Tan has touched on universal themes that women of other nationalities could relate to.

On the other hand, I have found that some people who are ten years younger than me didn't like the book/movie too much and found the characters "stereotypical" or "unrealistic."

Some Caucasian males didn't like this book/movie either, and again it comes back to them not being able to relate to it.

I understand another user's comment about the negative portrayal of Asian men, but this person has forgotten about June's father who was portrayed as a very likeable man who was trying to bridge the gap between his wife and his daughter. As for his objection of the daughters marrying Caucasian wives, he needs to realize that there are other issues/reasons involved and it's not because Chinese-American women like them "hate Chinese men."

In short, this movie is very good at portraying the intergenerational and/or intercultural conflict between people who are caught between two cultures. Women like me have cried while watching this movie because the issues have been very real for us. For those who could not relate to it or cannot see the "reality" of it, then this movie would not be for them.