Watch Thousand Pieces of Gold For Free

Why so much hype?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

OK, I will admit upfront that I am biased about this movie. "Thousand Pieces of Gold" had its world premiere in my city in Idaho in 1991 because it was the only sizeable town with a large old movie palace near the locations where these true-life events took place (but NOT where they were filmed, which was in Montana). (Lewiston even gets a shout-out in the subtitles near the beginning of the film.) During the several weeks that this movie played, I went to see it MANY times on the BIG SCREEN; watching it on TV screens just does not do the scenery justice, though we will perhaps never see it again in theaters. The story of Polly Bemis that the movie is based on is real, though the filmmakers do take some liberties with the facts. That does not bother most of us locals. We were all thrilled to see this story brought to life on film by many fine actors, capturing the flavor of what life was like in 19th Century Idaho mining towns--especially if you were not white. Rosalind Chao's performance is exceptional, and I have been told that this was the FIRST American movie made with a Asian-American actress in the lead role. Although the film seems to come to a rather abrupt end -- as though the filmmakers ran out of money -- it is still a fantastic film that deserves more attention than it has received, and certainly should be released on DVD. Make a point to see it, or own it on VHS, if you can.

By 1990 pundits were dismissing the Western as a moribund genre, but here was more proof to the contrary: a thoughtful, intelligent frontier drama (from the book by Ruthanne Lum McCunn) about a reluctant young Chinese mail-order bride who learns how to overcome both racial and sexual discrimination after being sold into virtual slavery and shipped to a remote Idaho mining camp. The story offers a fresh look at familiar Far Western terrain from a unique and otherwise neglected Far Eastern perspective: through the eyes of Chinese immigrants who, as much as anyone, helped win the West. The heroine's rocky path to independence is softened somewhat by romantic interest from a sympathetic (and racially color blind) saloon owner, but even in love she never loses her dignity or identity. Likewise the film itself maintains its quiet feminist integrity, by successfully navigating the fine line between sensitivity and soap. Beautifully shot in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, with careful attention to authentic period mood and detail.

Although I haven't seen this since it was on TV over fifteen years ago, its memory came and struck me again tonight right out of the blue while I was eating dinner. I was so supremely impressed with this at the time I saw it on PBS that I have no trouble now remembering the title immediately, along with the names Rosalind Chao and Chris Cooper, even after all these years. So, I just had to come here now while I'm thinking of it and register my approval.If this were available on DVD, I'd buy it today. But it seems to me that what America really needs, entertainment-wise, is an American Playhouse anthology on DVD. If The American Film Theatre can put out a fourteen-volume anthology (in three sets), and if we can get "Fifty Years of Janus Films" in one giant collection, why not American Playhouse?

One of the few movies i've seen where sex is not the bottom line or basis of the romance. It is tasteful and sweet in its depiction of an interracial relationship which develops around an actual friendship and ensues into a genuine emotional bond in the midst of semi-racially intolerant environment. The lead actor and actress produce an amazing performance of a romantic chemistry that is set in the bounds of respect, selfnessness, kindness, and deep affection.I give it a thumbs up, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay up.