American Dreams in China 中國合伙人

<American Dreams in China>, don't get the title wrong or shall it be the other way around. The film almost marks Peter Ho-Sun Chan's "re-visited" of his previous film <Comrades: Almost a Love Story> in 1996 with the dream that most Chinese people would make by looking forward to moving to the United States. You will find similarity in between these two film when Chan delibrately showing there are still lights at the end of the tunnel. Hopes are ahead if you are not giving it up in any circumstances. Chan's message is always very clear in his movie, be it the intertwined love relationship or the brotherhood's betrayal. During the economic reform period of the 80’s, three undergraduates bind together by a common ambition to live the American dream. They are Cheng Dongqing (Huang Xiaoming), a hillbilly who refuses to accept his destiny of being a farmer; Meng Xiaojun (Deng Chao), a self-confident, cynical intellectual; and Wang Yang (Tong Dawei), an idealistic romantic poet. Xiaojun is the first to obtain an US Visa for studying abroad. Yang follows but decides to remain in China for his beloved. Poor Dongqing is rejected by the US Embassy repeatedly. 

Baffled, he reluctantly accepts the job as an English instructor in the university but eventually gets fired for teaching tutorial classes in private. Across the Pacific, Xiaojun fails to find a decent job and is driven to work as a busboy in a diner. Dongqing decides to turn his tutorial effort into a fulltime business and summons Yang to help him along. Xiaojun, having returned from America, immediately joins force with his buddies to establish New Vision Institute. With their unique charisma, they turn New Vision into an instant success and create a media sensation overnight. However, the sudden fame and fortune are gradually tearing their friendship apart. The media labels Dongqing the “Godfather of Foreign Study”. Xiaojun is not comfortable with Dongqing taking all the credits for something they’ve created together and Yang suffers between their conflicts. The company is on the brink of collapse, as is their trust to each other. Whether New Vision and the friendship can survive the test of time, we’re about to see.