With this melodrama about a Chinese immigrant couple trying to succeed in the harsh realities of Margaret Thatcher's economically depressed England, the sobering social commentary of director Mike Newell's television work met the airy charm of his romantic films. After their wedding in Hong Kong, Lily (Sylvia Chang) and Chen (Danny Dun) arrive in London's Chinatown to begin building a life together in the West. After five years working as a waiter in an expensive Chinese restaurant, Chen and his wife welcome a son, and Lily's older sister Mui (Jodie Long) follows them to London and moves in with them. Chen has finally raised enough capital to start his own business, which takes off, and his family seems to have achieved the ideal of modern capitalist success. Soon, however, Chen is caught up in a violent feud between rival Chinese gangs, each of which wants to muscle in on his lucrative outfit. Soursweet (1989) was based on a novel by Timothy Mo.