Full Moon in New York

Kwan's New York feature overcomes a spurious 'political' subtext (women from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China must figure out how to get along) thanks to some fairly trenchant observations about the émigré Chinese experience. Chang is the would-be Shakespearean actress from Taiwan, stuck playing horses in off-off-Broadway clinkers; Cheung is the Hong Kong restaurateur/property magnate coming to the end of a lesbian affair; and Siqin Gaowa is the bride from China, barely coping with strange Western ways. Richer and more imaginative than most Chinatown movies, persuasive enough as a sketch of female bonding, and superbly shot by Bill Wong.