- Red Corner
Infobox Film
name = Red Corner
image_size =
director =Jon Avnet
producer = Jon AvnetJordan Kerner Charles Mulvehill Rosalie Swedlin
writer =Robert King
starring =Richard Gere Bai Ling Bradley Whitford
music =Thomas Newman
cinematography =Karl Walter Lindenlaub
distributor =Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released =November 7 ,1997
runtime = 122 min.
imdb_id = 0119994"Red Corner" is a
movie produced in 1997. It tells the story of a wealthy American businessman named Jack Moore (played byRichard Gere ) working in China and attempting to put together a satellite communications deal as part of a joint venture with the Chinese government. Before the deal goes through, he is framed for the murder of a powerful Chinese general's daughter, and the satellite contract is awarded to Moore's competitor. Moore's court appointed lawyer (played byBai Ling ) initially does not believe his pleas of innocence, but the pair gradually unearth further evidence that not only vindicates Moore, but also implicates powerful figures within the Chinese Central government administration and exposes high levels of conspiracy and corruption.It was directed by
Jon Avnet and written byRobert King .The film received generally negative reviews when it was released in the United States. The movie review aggregator website
Rottentomatoes tallies that 33% of the film critics gave the movie positive reviews.cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red_corner/|title=Red Corner Movie Reviews|publisher=Rottentomatoes] , while only 20% of top critics reviewed it positively.Cynthia Langston of "
Film Journal International " responded to the film: "So unrealistic, so contrived and so blatantly "Hollywood" that Gere can't possibly imagine he's opening any eyes to the problem, or any doors to its solution, for that matter". [ [http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000698469 RED CORNER. "Film Journal International".] ] While the "Los Angeles Times " described "Red Corner" as a "sluggish and uninteresting melodrama that is further hampered by the delusion that it is saying Something Significant. But its one-man-against-the-system story is hackneyed and the points it thinks it's making about the state of justice in China are hampered by an attitude that verges on the xenophobic." [ [http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie971111-19,0,7979115.story Red Corner: A Heavy-Handed Battle With Justice in China. "Los Angeles Times".] ] "Salon" film critic Andrew O'Hehir sarcastically noted "...more the movie's subtext swallows its story, until all that is left is Gere's superior virtue, intermixed with his superior virility -- both of which are greatly appreciated by the evidently underserviced Chinese female population..." O'Hehir also noted that the film reinforces the infamous Western stereotypes of Asian female sexuality (as in those of "The World of Suzie Wong ") as well as the hoariest stereotyping. [ [http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/1997/10/31red.html Red Corner. "Salon"] ]Trivia
* This film is banned in China for political reasons. [ [http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/red_corner Total Film - Red Corner - Film Review] ] However, this film (named _zh. 紅色角落 in Chinese) is rated parental guidance category ("PG", _zh. 輔導級(輔)) but not banned in Taiwan,
Republic of China . [zh icon [http://dvd.bestshop.com.tw/main/qtylist.asp?r=57607 dvd.bestshop.com.tw] ]
* The film was shot in the USA; however, for the large landscape shots of Beijing, such as the first shot after the opening credits, computer animation was used to splice the few minutes of footage that was shot in China with close ups of the lead actors.
* According to AMC's introduction when showing the film, the execution scenes were real, smuggled out of China by defectors. Fact|date=May 2008References
External links
*
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