Rating: 
Summary: See this film
Review: I am an Asian male who saw the film and the event where the director spoke. I learned a lot of things that day and researched more myself since I have heard stories like this but did not have to go through it myself.The workers' isolation makes it difficult for them to access outside help and corroborate their stories for authorities. "Domestic worker cases- they're like this dirty little secret," says Jenny Stanger of Los Angeles' Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking. "They're working in the private sphere, where you are least likely to detect slavery. I think it's an enormous problem; there are a lot of them out there. "In many cases it's one person's word against another," adds Dr. Mohamed Mattar of Johns Hopkins University's Protection Project, a research institute dedicated to human trafficking. "In many cases...we're talking about high-profile people, because who can afford domestic except somebody like a diplomat?"
just like in the film
A quote from one boss to their worker tells it all "You don't even deserve to be in this country (U.S.). I only did you a favor by bringing you here and you don't appreciate it. You come from poor blood and poverty!" just like in the film when they yell at her and think they are better than a poor country girl
my friend is a cop in Monterey Park, CA and gave me this which is on the city website, a city of hard working good Chinese families but like in the film things happen there too like everywhere- The criminal ringleaders employed Chinese women as prostitutes in medical offices and private residences throughout Southern California. Organized Crime and Vice Division Prostitution Section detectives obtained a search warrant for a total of ten business and residence locations in Los Angeles and Orange Counties involved in this criminal enterprise. Locations searched were in Sherman Oaks, Santa Clarita, Westchester, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Altadena and Irvine.
On April 1, 2003, OCVD detectives arrested four suspects for 266 (h) P.C., Pimping. Qiong Feng Chou, 52, Kit Poon, 32, and Trisni Tedjasutisno, 30, were arrested at or near a residence in Irvine
-LAPD office of the Chief of Police On July 17, 2003 the Monterey Park Police Department, in conjunction with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los
Angeles Police Department, San Gabriel Police Department, and the Los Angeles
County Probation Department served search warrants at thirty locations
throughout the San Gabriel Valley involving members of the "Black Dragon"
Asian Gang. Officers from Glendale, Burbank, Alhambra, El Monte, Monrovia,
Glendora, Baldwin Park, West Covina, Pasadena, Azusa, Arcadia, and Whittier
Police Departments, Members of L.A. Impact, Los Angeles County and Orange
County District Attorney Investigators, and Agents from Alcohol Tobacco and
Firearms, and State Parole Agents assisted in the early morning service of
search warrants. This investigation was the result of a three-year joint agency effort to curb
the criminal activity of the gang. The "Black Dragon" Gang is a violent street gang that has been active in the
West San Gabriel Valley area since 1984. Most of the members of the gang are
of Asian Decent. The criminal activities of the
gang have included murders, attempt murders, assaults, drive-by shootings,
weapons violations, home invasion robberies, commercial robberies, extortions,
residential burglaries, auto thefts and the operation and/or protection of
houses of prostitution.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: I finally got a chance to see the movie and read all
the stuff on the dvd. I thought it was great. I love
the music in the movie. I wish the deleted scene
could be in the movie. I feel in some scenes you can
take the emotional level higher, may be in slow
motion. I read all the things that you're done in past
and I find it amazing how you can endure through all
the hard works and at the same time remain such a
great personality. What I see in class was a genuine
filmmaker. I hope the fire inside you keep burning
and good luck with your career.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: I finally got a chance to see the movie and read all
the stuff on the dvd. I thought it was great. I love
the music in the movie. I wish the deleted scene
could be in the movie. I feel in some scenes you can
take the emotional level higher, may be in slow
motion. I read all the things that you're done in past
and I find it amazing how you can endure through all
the hard works and at the same time remain such a
great personality. What I see in class was a genuine
filmmaker. I hope the fire inside you keep burning
and good luck with your career.
Rating: 
Summary: Another White Male to the Rescue Movie...
Review: I give this move ZERO STARS!!! I had to rate it something otherwise I couldn't submit this review!
WTF! Yet another movie emasculating Asian Men. Another White dude coming to the rescue of an Asian Women who's supposedly mistreated by her "own" kind. What? You mean to tell me that there are no kind, caring, compassionate, sympathetic, Asian Men? This theme has been done over and over already. Do yourself a favor...SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!
Rating:
Summary: A NICE SURPRISE
Review: I just happened to catch the film. What a lucky break for me! My
eight year old son was with me and complained,
but in minutes, he was engrossed as well. Instead of the typical
"Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl" It was "Boy meets girl,
boy empowers girl, girl sets herself free". How refreshing!
How beautiful. This was a brilliant and captivating story.
It expressed many complex themes but it was conveyed with
such entertaining simplicity that my little boy thoroughly enjoyed it.
He and I talked about sociology and freedom all afternoon. Obviosly, this film was targeted for adults, but the very mature
subplots went right over my son's head and I was there with him to talk
about the prevalent issues. I thank you for the lessons you taught my son and I thank you for the reminders to me about taking my rights for granted. The messages stuck with us. This was a real triumph on many levels. Congratulations on a supurb
first effort. You really know how to capture the human spirit. I will watch
for your future work.
Rating:
Summary: Shut up asian male cry babies- live our asian female life!
Review: I just wonder what is to become of Lee. Her sadness and anger must be so vast.
Can she overcome that and really live?...We all have such sadness
in us....that is why we relate to her.....But at one point I could almost
stand no more hardship for her.......and the reality of a real life
woman in that situation is usually FAR worse. See the article in the San Francisco Weekly Feb 2004 entitled "Enslaved in Palo Alto"
Rating:
Summary: This film is Great
Review: I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM THIS FILM AND I KNOW STEVE, HE IS NOT RACIST AND NEITHER ARE ALL THE ASIAN CAST MEMBERS WHO BELIEVED IN THE STORY AND DID IT FOR NO PAY TO BRING LIGHT TO THIS SUBJECT THAT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE! YOU NEED TO LOOK AT THE FILM'S WEBSITE NOWCHIANTOWN.COM AND SEE ALL THE WORK STEVE DOES IN CHINA AND HERE FOR BETTER EDUCATION WITH THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE IN CHINA WHO KNOW HIS FILM TOO AND THEY KNOW HIM WELL AND KNOW HE HAS NEVER TRIED TO BE A HERO OR RACIST. WORKING HARD TO HELP PEOPLE IS NOT TRYING TO BE A HERO, IT'S WHAT WE ALL SHOULD DO. I'M SURE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HE IS THE ONE WHO STARTED THE GREATER GOOD AWARD WITH HIS OWN MONEY-AND HE IS NOT RICH- TO RECOGNIZE PEOPLE WHO ARE HELPING OTHERS AND NEVER GET THANKED FOR IT. CHINESE SCHOOLS AND UNIVESRITIES IN CHINA AND THE U.S. WOULD NOT INVITE HIM TO SPEAK ABOUT THIS IF HE WAS RACIST, BEIJING FILM ACADEMY, BEIJING UNIVERSITY, XINHUA UNIVERSITY, SHANGHAI NORMAL UNIVERSITY, CAL STATE, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSTIY, NYU, TORONTO, THE WASHINGTON DC DIVERSITY CONFERENCE, HIGH SCHOOLS, AND MANY MORE ARE INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO SEE THE REAL EFFORT AND MESSAGE HE HAS WORKED SO HARD FOR YEARS WITH SO MANY ASIAN PEOPLE AND GOOD FRIENDS TO MAKE US ALL MORE UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE WE DON'T KNOW UNTIL WE WALK IN THEIR SHOES.
Rating:
Summary: This is a good movie!
Review: I read the other reviews and it's a shame that when we like something we rarely take the time to find a place to write about it but if we have a complaint then we do. I guess that's why there are complaint dept. at stores and no "i like it" departments. i'm glad people are writing good things about this film because i agreed with them, but i know there are many more people who like the film that don't bother to find a place to write, but the complainers do.
Rating:
Summary: Asiaphiles' Favorite
Review: I saw this movie, it blows! Like any other racist movie, this one sux as well. The Asian woman has identity issues, and the Steven Dunning is your typical Asianphile. Look it up if you don't know what "Asianphile" means.
Rating:
Summary: This film is really about something important
Review: I saw this review for Raise the Red Lantern (another good film) which also shows women being abused by men and other women around them just like Now Chinatown and I think someone smart got the point right. This reinforced the fact that Now Chinatown is a very well done film not about one race rescuing another, (since there is never more than a friendship between the two and the white guy is gone halfway through the film- she does it all on her own, he's just like a book she finds in the street showing her there is something different out there, so the jealous boys who can't make their own film should back off), it's a really a film about the class system that hurts us all in all countries and some other reviewers already cited articles on that subject. I would agree, so here's the clip I think says it right: Most people no doubt lament the life of the women...really, one might say, trapped by a system of male privilege. But I would remind those who see only that, that for every woman the "master" has, that is one woman another man will not have. The system does NOT favor males. It favors wealth and privilege. In such a system there are many men without wives, fomenting unrest, which is why modern states forbid polygamy. What does a man do with the capital and power he accumulates or inherits? If the system allows, he spends it on women and the assurance of his paternity. This is the way humans are, and any sexist or racist interpretation of this movie misses this truth.
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