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How The Joy Luck Club paved the way for Asian representation long before Crazy Rich Asians
The Joy Luck Club (1993) is a complex tale of intergenerational trauma focusing on four Chinese mothers and their daughters in San Francisco
Reading Time:3 minutes
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This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.
When Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club was released in 1993, it stood as only the second Hollywood film ever to tell a contemporary story with a majority Asian cast – the first, Flower Drum Song, had arrived 32 years prior.
Based on the bestselling 1989 novel by Amy Tan, it tells of four Chinese mothers and their daughters in San Francisco. They play a regular mahjong game, calling themselves The Joy Luck Club.
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After the death of founding member Suyuan (Kieu Chinh), her daughter June (Ming-Na Wen) is invited to take her place.
“They were worried,” June says of her aunties. “In me, they see their own daughters: just as ignorant of all the hopes and dreams our mothers brought to this country.”
What follows is a complex tale of intergenerational trauma, in which we witness each mother’s struggles growing up in China and the subsequent impact on their American offspring.
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