Red Corner (1997)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writer (WGA):

Robert King (written by)

Release Date:

31 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Severity for those who resist.

Plot:

An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.

Plot Keywords:

Male Nudity | Female To Male Foot In Crotch | Female Nudity | English Subtitles In Original | Embassy

Awards:

3 wins

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Jan. 8

3:00 AM

AMC

Cast

Richard Gere	...	Jack Moore
Bai Ling	...	Shen Yuelin
Bradley Whitford	...	Bob Ghery
Byron Mann	...	Lin Dan
Peter Donat	...	David McAndrews
Robert Stanton	...	Ed Pratt
Tsai Chin	...	Chairman Xu
James Hong	...	Lin Shou
Tzi Ma	...	Li Cheng
Ulrich Matschoss	...	Gerhardt Hoffman
Richard Venture	...	Ambassador Reed
Jessey Meng	...	Hong Ling
Roger Yuan	...	Huan Minglu
Chi Yu Li	...	General Hong
Henry O	...	Procurator General Yang

Also Known As:

Angolo rosso - Colpevole fino a prova contraria, L' (Italy) [it]
Coin rouge (Canada: French title) [fr]
Justiça Vermelha (Portugal) [pt]
Justicia roja (Argentina) [es]
Kizil köse (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Laberinto rojo, El (Spain) [es]
Punainen labyrintti (Finland) [fi]
Röd makt (Sweden) [sv]
Rdeci kot (Slovenia) [sl]
Red Corner (France) [fr]
Red Corner - Labyrinth ohne Ausweg (Germany) [de]
Temnita rosie (Romania) [ro]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and a scene of sexuality.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Mexico:B | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Avnet/Kerner Productions

Trivia:

Production Designer Richard Sylbert took two research trips to China, where he took over 1500 photographs to provide himself with references for his massive sets.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The closing scene of a Chinese airport reveals an American West 737. American West does not fly to China.

Quotes:

Shen Yuelin: Why can we not conduct our affairs in daylight? Why can we not trust the people to witness them? Why can we not allow their voices to be heard rather than crushing them into muteness? I am willing to pay the price if I am wrong. Are you willing to pay the price if I am right?

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Soundtrack:

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Underrated Political/Courtroom Drama

For about a dozen years, it was hard to find too many films Richard Gere made which weren't interesting and well-made. This was no exception. Once again, he "delivers the goods" and is involved in an interesting story.

Gere, a follower, I believe, of the Dalai Lama whom the Communists forced out of Tibet, uses this film to get his shots in at his mentor's enemy. Anyone who thinks this is just a coincidence is pretty naive. Nonetheless, the facts support the film's stark, brutal portrayal of Communist China's leadership. At the very least, it shows a regime unwilling to hear both sides of a story. (Hollywood has often given the same treatment to the U.S. government, showing it more often in a corrupt light, which is ludicrous compared to restrictive Communist China.)

Anyway, Gere really dominates this film, being in almost every scene. This is your basic frame-up-then-prove-your-innocence-in-court story. It keeps your attention throughout although I thought the ending was a bit confusing because things happened almost too fast for the viewer to take in. At two hours, the film could have been trimmed a tad but the lulls in here were not much.

Overall, an underrated film and unjustly criticized by the national critics, most of whom don't like it when communism is bashed.