Back to trending
Chinese Box

Chinese Box

Drama · Romance · 1997

The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.

Movie details

Chinese Box

1997 Drama · Romance 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Chinese Box?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Man from Elysian Fields

The Man from Elysian Fields

Drama · 2001

A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.

The Golden Bowl

The Golden Bowl

Romance · 2000

Wealthy American widower Adam Verver and his daughter Maggie live a refined life in Europe, surrounded by art. Maggie marries impoverished Italian Prince Amerigo, while Adam marries Maggie's friend Charlotte Stant. The Prince and Charlotte are having an affair, which Maggie discovers and navigates through a silent, psychological battle of wills, ultimately using her cunning to preserve her marriage and protect her father.

London

London

Drama · 2005

London is a drug laden adventure that centers on a party in a New York loft where a young man is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend.

Maria's Lovers

Maria's Lovers

Drama · 1984

A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.

Wander Darkly

Wander Darkly

Romance · 2020

New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.

Newness

Newness

Romance · 2017

In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.

Game of Love

Game of Love

Romance · 2022

Follows Vivien and Roy as their love story continues and leads them to Roy’s childhood home in Sicily to prepare for the sale of the family estate. During the visit, a mysterious woman arrives and befriends Vivien, much to Roy’s displeasure. Tensions build and lines are crossed as secrets from Roy’s past force the couple to face aspects of their relationship they did not know existed.

Blind

Blind

Drama · 2017

A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.

Breaking and Entering

Breaking and Entering

Drama · 2006

Set in a blighted, inner-city neighbourhood of London, Breaking and Entering examines an affair which unfolds between a successful British landscape architect and Amira, a Bosnian woman – the mother of a troubled teen son – who was widowed by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Fire with Fire

Fire with Fire

Drama · 1986

A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Wayne Wang

Written by

Jean-Claude Carrière

Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons

John

Gong Li

Gong Li

Vivian

Maggie Cheung

Maggie Cheung

Jean

Michael Hui Koon-Man

Michael Hui Koon-Man

Chang

Rubén Blades

Rubén Blades

Jim

Jared Harris

Jared Harris

William

Josie Ho

Josie Ho

Lilly

Court is in session

Put Chinese Box on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.