I enjoyed this drama and romance movie 'Chinese Box' immensely and was Intrigued by the characters.I can't really say what attracted me to this movie so much, but hope you enjoy.The movie was interesting in capturing a time period that was hugely felt mostly in a region we are unfamiliar with. (most people)OK, the women were very nice looking. This would be a must watch for any lover of film, the director really made you get in touch with reality. Chinese Box is a film that I loved to watch and hope you like it too

I love this film as a case study into the depths of man's self examination paralleled with the struggle of a country doing the same.I came away with a better understanding of this country's heady excitement and worries as well as a connection to Jeremy Irons character watching and making a difficult transition and acceptance of responsibilities for both. Great film,superb acting.

I purchased Chinese Box because of my new found fascination with Gong Li. She is a beautiful actress with a mysterious way about her that makes her truly fascinating. However, a film as convoluted as Chinese Box can put a death nail in someones career. The movie is about a British Journalist played by Jeremy Irons who is reflecting on the past as he is witnessing the fate of Hong Kong being taken over by China with the British Government departing. As he drolls on in voiceover about this, he also reflects on his relationship and undying love for Gong Li. There is also a side story (with no closure) about a young, scarred Chinese woman who is hiding a deep painful secret. The highlight of this film is Ruben Blades who turns in a great performance. He also sings, and being an accomplished singer, he does a great job. I wish the movie would have been about his character, it was the only interesting one in the movie. The only other highlight was how smashing Gong Li looked in a jet black t-shirt and jeans. The director of this movie, Wayne Wang, did a superior, practically perfect movie called "Smoke" which I think is brilliant. This outing however was as disgusting as looking at the gutted fish in the Hong Kong marketplace.

A imperfect film to my tastes, but definitely worth watching for two elements, the French connection and the enfolding of stories.In the sixties, we were blessed with a flood of highly person films, some of which embodied a sense of meaningless angst, conveyed in a rough, expressionistic style. French cinema is moribund now, but the tradition has been revived by Hong Kong art films. This film stays still by moving, focuses on characters by highlighting the city.Here, the effort is focused on a modern obsession, the trustworthiness of the narrative. So we have a film about stories and storytelling. Vivian's story haunts her; she has helped build a story for Chang which brings him success but her ruin (because of her old story).Irons plays a man paid to tell "the story" on Hong Kong, who realizes the current story is empty and the "new" story (by the great inventors of history, the communists) will differ only superficially.OOPS! Spoiler warning. Stop now if concerned.He is given a story about his death (is it true?). He tracks down Jean who tells two stories. Is the first true? Then we get the story about her jilting and attempted suicide. This is brought into question as well. And we never get the story we wonder about, how her scar came to be.Vivian spins an alternate identity as a whore, in order to pierce the many-yeared barrier between her and Irons. You really should see this film together with "French Lieutenant's Woman." In both cases, a fiction reveals truth, in both, Irons is the hapless victim. That is lush, this is bare. That references French Impressionism, this English Colonialism (think about the confluence) but the dynamic is the same, as is the notion of enfolded time and relative truth.Worth seeing.