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China Girl (1987) More at IMDbPro »

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Not so bad at all!, 25 September 2002
Author: Max (ylive) from Seoul

Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet' has been made on screen so many times and 'China Girl' is my favorite one. I agree that this is not a greate movie or even romantic one. However, I like this movie for it's truthful depiction of love and hate.

In 'China Girl', the bosses of Italian and Chinese gang make endless tension between their gangs to maintain their power in families. Unlike orginal play, these two poor lovers' death couldn't solve their fmilies' hatred but made it worse. Se la vie!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Abel Ferrara's most conventional and commercial movie. A solid drama about inter-racial romance, cultural differences and gang rivalry., 1 January 2003
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

'China Girl' is easily Abel Ferrara's most conventional and commercial movie to date. Thankfully it improves on his previous movie 'Fear City', which was too compromised and "Hollywood" to succeed. The story is a basic updating of Romeo And Juliet set against the background of Chinese and Italian gang rivalry. Newcomers Richard Panebianco and Sari Chang play Tony and Tye the ill fated lovers who continue their forbidden romance against pressure from their family and friends. Neither actor has went on to all that much but they are both more than adequate and make a sweet couple. The real action comes from solid performances by James Russo ('Donnie Brasco'), David Caruso ('Kiss Of Death'), Russell Wong ('The Prophecy 2'), Paul Hipp ('Teenage Caveman') and Joey Chin ('Year Of The Dragon'), many of whom went on to work with Ferrara on later projects. It was also good to see Judith Malina ('Dog Day Afternoon') and veteran character actor James Hong ('Big Trouble in Little China') in supporting roles. While by no means as flamboyant and confrontational as Ferrara's best known work, this is a surprisingly entertaining story which should appeal to a much wider audience than his "difficult" but rewarding movies such as the stunning 'Bad Lieutenant' or the fascinating 'The Addiction'. This movie doesn't deserve its obscurity and is well worth a rental.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Good, updated version of Romeo and Juliet, 30 January 2005

Author: valeriempeterson (valeriempeterson@yahoo.com) from Columbus, Georgia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"China Girl" is a good, updated version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." The film, which centers on the forbidden romance between Italian-American Tony (Tony Panebianco) and Chinese-American Tye (Sari Chang), is not great, but brings this ancient story of "star-cross'd lovers" to new generations. Shakespeare's language is beautiful, but in this day of short attention spans among our young people he can come across as old and stodgy. Showing this film (along with "Brooklyn Babylon," "West Side Story," "Rocky Road," "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet," "Pretty in Pink," "Romeo Must Die!" and of course, the 1968 classic adaptation, "Romeo and Juliet" by Franco Zeferrelli) can introduce young people to Shakespeare in school, since "Romeo and Juliet" is one of his most famous stories. Young people can realize how timeless Shakespeare's story is, and how it can apply to today's world.

The movie: Tony and Tye meet at a nightclub and fall in love, despite the fact that their ethnic factions are fighting against each other for turf through gang warfare. I agree with previous reviews that the supporting actors are much better than the leads, even though Panebianco and Chang are attractive and impressive in their first roles. The movie is action-packed, containing several fight scenes and one particular scene of graphic violence at the end. There is also a lot of profanity, so viewers should be forewarned. I felt it was strange, however, that for a movie with a supposedly passionate love story, the sex scene was pretty disappointing and actually unsexy! Despite these caveats, though, I think "China Girl" is a good movie and I wish it had done better at the box office. Maybe some cable movie channel can show this film back-to-back with other "Romeo and Juliet"-inspired films for one day, so viewers can see the similarities and differences among the various films. Now that's something that I would like to see! I give this movie an 8 out of 10.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
West Side Story updated to 1987, 23 January 2003

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States

Chinese gangs vs. Italian gangs in NYC in 1987. Tony (Richard Panebianco) and Tye (Sari Chang) meet and fall in love. Meanwhile Tye's brother hates all Italians and Tony's friends hate Chinese.

If you've seen "West Side Story" you know how this ends--but a bit more tragically in this movie. Plotwise it's very obvious but it's beautifully done. Filmed with energy, beautifully atmospheric (the sets and lighting are incredible), and full of bursts of ultraviolence. Most of the roles are well acted, especially by James Russo, David Caruso (chewing the scenery) and Russell Wong. As the young lovers Panebianco and Chang are, unfortunately, not that good. In a way it's understandable--he was only 16 when this was made and it's the first role for both. They're both very attractive (Panebianco is pretty buff with a baby face; Chang is delicate and beautiful) but have little to do other than kiss and act like they love each other. That isn't believable either since they have zero sexual chemistry. Still, they are sympathetic characters. Also, in a nice touch, Panebianco shows more skin than Chang in their sex scene.

This is really obscure and it doesn't deserve it. It had almost no release in 1987 (there were no stars to sell it) and was never a big hit on cable or video. Also Chang never made another movie and Panebianco disappeared after making a few more films (Whatever happened to him? He showed a lot of promise.). That's too bad--this deserves a bigger audience. Worth watching on cable or renting.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Romeo And Juliet of New York, 5 April 2008

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

William Shakespeare's eternal tale of young love gets yet another version in China Girl. Despite the racial tensions between the Chinese of Chinatown and the shrinking Italian population of Little Italy, Sari Chang and Richard Panebianco find each other and find love. Now if only those who might become their prospective in-laws will stop the hate.

China Girl was filmed completely on location in New York's neighborhoods of Little Italy and Chinatown. As the film says Little Italy where the fabled fictional Godfather had the Genco Olive Oil company is shrinking block by block as the Italians move out and a huge influx of Orientals move in and expand Chinatown. China Girl was done in 1987 so in twenty years the trend is exacerbated.

Players like James Russo, Russell Wong, and David Caruso have all gone on to bigger and better things, they're certainly more known than the leads are now. Still Panebianco and Chang are an attractive pair of kids.

The soundtrack is typical music from the Eighties in keeping with the times. Don't expect any songs for the ages like there were in West Side Story.

China Girl is a nice retelling of Romeo and Juliet a story that as long as there's life on planet Earth will never go out of style.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
The Cinema of Abel Ferrara: China Girl., 15 August 2005

Author: Captain_Couth (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA

China Girl (1987) was an urban take on the classic Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet (courtesy of Nicholas St. John). The film was directed by the gritty street level film maker Abel Ferrara. Instead of the Capulets and the Montaques, this version involves two crime families (the Italian Mafia and Chinese Triads). Not only is this film about true love but it's about honor and old school loyalty. Instead of trying to follow the source material verbatim, Ferrara re-invents the classic tale.

I happen to be a big fan of Abel Ferrara. His style of film making is very unique and it's greatly missed in Hollywood. We need more directors like him. Someone who not only can make a movie on the cheap but produce a well thought-out film that'll force you to think and look outside the box.

Highly recommended.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A 1980s WEST SIDE STORY, 27 August 2001

Author: WILDCAT21378 from Laplace, Louisiana

This movie is like a West Side Story without all of the singing and dancing but,with plenty of blood and gore. The best thing about this movie is the fight scenes but some of the excessive violence can be a little off putting. Watchable but nothing special.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Okay action flick almost done in by the lack of chemistry between two leads, 14 January 2004
Author: mamamiasweetpeaches from New York, NY

ROMEO AND JULIET begat WEST SIDE STORY which begat CHINA GIRL. To say the plot of CHINA GIRL is good is stating the obvious: how are you going to improve on Shakespear? Story old as time there are two young lovers who meet at a party and fall in love while dancing together. They come from feauding families. The boy is Italian and the girl is Chinese in this case. They both have friends and family who are hoodlums. They are continually told to stay in thier own neighborhoods, but of course this leads to them sneaking around to meet. Both leads are attractive but not great actors. The thing that annoyed me about this film was the lack of chemistry. Watch the sex scene. Look at the girls face. She does not even seem to be enjoying herself, let alone in passionate rapture. This is the sort of sex scene usually seen in movies about sad, poor, or even drug hazed people. The storyline needs to capitalize on these two being so in love they cant bare to be apart, and thier lack of chemistry muddles this.

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0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Gangland Romeo and Juliet (spoilers), 19 November 2004

Author: Pepper Anne from Orlando, Florida

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

China Girl presents a theme prevalent in cheap 80s action movies -- the Chinatown gangs, often with showdowns between the Chinese and the Italians via gang wars. You'll see a lot of this with 80s American martial arts movies, in particular.

China Girl also seems to prevent a tone from director Abel Ferrer which becomes much more evident and much more forceful in his 1996 film, The Funeral, which is a sadly underrated movie about the perpetration of gang life through three mafioso brothers. The dismaying realities of gang life are expressed here, though less sophisticatedly through a Romeo and Juliet gangland story. Though entertaining (for the most part, aside from much of the repetition throughout the movie), you cannot help but remain unconvinced about the tale as one viewer has already commented, because of the extreme lack of chemistry between the two main characters. Yes, the sex scene does seem ridiculous.

Nonetheless, the story is about a teenage Italian-American boy who refuses to participate in the turf wars with his relatives against the Chinese-Americans in Chinatown. Like Vincent Gallo's character realizes in 'The Funeral,' the young man, Tony, likewise cannot see the logic in the continuous fighting, especially once he has fallen in love with the Chinese gang's sister.

Things do tend to get sappy in this movie, and aside from the point about senseless gang violence, there is not much else going on. The writers go slightly overboard in bogging down the audience with this point, that they forgot to put in some filler (unless you're one hundred percent entertained by the fight sequences). It is not a bad movie, and certainly one of the better movies I have seen by Abel Ferrer ('Fear City' in my opinion was his worst, 'The Funeral' was his best). If you're in the mood for 80s action nostalgia, it's a good vice.

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2 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Romeo is bleeding...ugh., 16 May 2008

Author: ptb-8 from Australia

This is a disgusting film, vicious and stupid. It contains scenes of beatings so furious and so pointlessly vicious it was enough to see it flung from theaters in 1987 and the DVD from your living room window today. Apparently it is supposed to be Romeo and Juliet or East meets West side story or some blather but really it is Abel Ferrara's talentless take on previously celebrated material amped up to 11 on the kick-o-meter. I just despised this production; it is a complete waste of resources and talent. Even 21 years later with cretinous violence infecting suburban multiplexes, this film stands out as a complete failure as a depiction of humanity. There is just scene after scene of moronic characters and hideous beatings. What a complete waste of your time and the actor's careers. Awful in the extreme. You can always quickly figure a film maker without talent when the violence gimmick is the reason for making the film in the first place. (The Eli and Quentin school of no-ideas).

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