Pushing Hands

DVD Features

Round Table discussion with filmmakers James Schamus, Ted Hope and Tim Squyres

16-page booklet with new essay by NYU Cinema Studies professor Zhen Zhang

Discs: 1

• Highest Rating
  "'Pushing Hands' displays many of the charms of Mr. Lee's later work, from attention to cooking (there's a funny and appetizing scene involving the making of dumplings) to sweetly autumnal romance. There's a lovely performance from Lai Wang as one of the few soul mates Mr. Chu finds during travels that take him from Westchester to Chinatown. The 1992 "Pushing Hands" has the crisp good looks of Mr. Lee's other films in this trilogy (all were shot by Jong Lin) and shows the same care with its courtly father figure. Mr. Lung makes palpable the Old World virtues Mr. Lee celebrates and the assurance that however rude life becomes, those virtues won't be washed away."
  Janet Maslin, The New York Times
• Highest Rating
  "A lovingly observed human comedy."
  Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
• Highest Rating
  "Played with remarkable depth and stoicism by Sihung Lung, a former Taiwanese matinee idol whose career Lee has helped resuscitate, Chu is a tai chi master who's left Beijing to live with his son's family in an upscale New York suburb. What ensues is a poignant and at times comic tale of how Chu copes in a world whose values are drastically different from his own.... Presaging Lee's future success with heartwarming yet bittersweet endings, the finale is worthy of Capra. "
  Ted Shen, Chicago Reader
• Highest Rating
  "Pushing Hands is a cross-cultural masterpiece by the director of The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman."
  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice
• Highest Rating
  "The right mixture of comedy and poignancy."
  Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
• Highest Rating
  "A terrifically impressive debut!"
  Betsy Sherman, Boston Globe
• Highest Rating
  "Handled with grace and beauty."
  Zena Jones, San Francisco Bay Guardian