The movie centered on an English writer, John (Jeremy Irons), who has lived in the island-state for quite a long time. He enjoys the hustle and bustle of the busy city life, along with a number of friends he has made over the years. The romantic angle of the story comes in the form of the lovely Vivian (Gong Li). She runs a trendy nightclub that was given to her as a present by her ultra-wealthy businessman/boyfriend, Chang (Michael Hui), and hopes that he'll marry her. While the two have been together for many years, her past as a hooker prevents that from ever taking place and she lives in denial about it. John, on the other hand, sees all too clearly that she is kept in limbo by her relationship with Chang, and unless things change, he'll be unable to woe her himself. In their past, the two had come close but events transpired to prevent their ever getting together back then and his regret forms a large part of the movie.

Okay, I've never been one of Wang's biggest fans. I think he has always had a unique style to his movies, but all too often, they left me cold for some reason or another (typically the wooden dialogue is the main culprit). The characterizations in Chinese Box were above average in many ways; from Iron's character on the verge of death yet having succeeded, to a small degree at least, in getting Vivian's attention. The backdrop of Hong Kong swapping ownership was at least as interesting as the film itself and I strongly recommend you listen to the director's commentary for more information on what Wang was trying to do. In short, the movie "looks" beautiful and the imagery tells it's own story (apart from the feature) but the feature didn't quite have the replay value I'd have appreciated from it. In a sub-plot, look for Maggie Cheung, who plays a hooker with a heart of lead, as she is pushed by John to explore her own past, even though the answers she seeks are probably long lost in terms of lost love.

I'd have to rate this one as a Rent It unless you're a big fan of Wayne Wang's works (and I'll admit that I know a few myself) since the movie's themes about transition, bittersweet romance, and lost opportunities were definitely worth watching but the movie seemed to be telling a very personal story outside the scope of the feature/main plot. The up side of all this is that this boxed set included a bonus movie that really looked at the themes in a different light, made by Wang in the late 80's, Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive. This is one time when the bonus movie complimented the feature an awful lot.

Picture: The picture was presented in "16 X 9" widescreen and looked pretty good for a lower budget release. There were some artifacts, some grain, and some scratches on the print itself but this unrated director's cut looked better than the art house theatre it showed in locally several years back. The dvd transfer was unremarkable but never an issue while watching the movie.

Sound: The sound was presented in Dolby Digital stereo Chinese/English, with optional English and Spanish subtitles. It was about average in most sections with some decent separation between the channels in a couple of cases. The vocals and music were mixed well and easy to understand.

Extras: The best extra in this two disc set was the movie, Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive. I'd be lying if I told you I thought it was coherent but it was a wild ride for those with a lot of patience. Keep in mind that it was kind of brutal at times so watch on an empty stomach. The other extras were director commentaries on both films. Each provided valuable insights into the movie, and allowed me to understand a lot of what he was shooting for with some of his interesting angles (both camera angles and story angles). The last extra was a short film called Home Movies by Wang. I didn't get much out of it compared to the other stuff here.

Final Thoughts: In all, I enjoyed the commentary as much as the feature, if not more so, but neither movie in this set really worked for me the subsequent times I checked them out. Most movie lovers will appreciate certain aspects of the films but I don't think the majority of people will see this as anything more than an art house film with limited value for them. The technical stuff was decent, and the extras helped make it worthwhile, but only true fans of Jeremy Irons or Wayne Wang will likely consider this worth buying.