“I knew I had an amazing gift: this power, this belief in myself, to be better than anyone else. If someone was bigger than me, older than me, it didn’t matter. And if they were mean, I could make them sorry.”

The Joy Luck Club

About: The Joy Luck Club was formed by four women in San Francisco: Lindo Jong (Tsai Chin), Ying-Ying St. Clair (France Nuyen), An-Mei Hsu (Lisa Lu), and Suyuan Woo (Kieu Chinh). The members have mainly played mahjong and told each other’s stories over the years. They emigrated from their native country, China, remarried, and gave birth to children in America. Suyuan’s daughter June (Ming-Na Wen) replaced her when Suyuan died four months before the time the film is set. The mothers have high hopes for their daughters’ successes, but the daughters struggle through “anxieties, feelings of inadequacy, and failures.” Throughout the film, the mothers and daughters bond by learning to understand each other and by overcoming their conflicts. This film is based on the 1989 novel of the same title by Any Tan. (WikiPedia.com)

Director: Wayne Wang

Year Released: 1993

Rating: R

Run Time: 139 minutes

Cast: With Tamlyn Tomita, Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu, and Ming-Na Wen

Showing: May 20, 8:30 p.m.