:
Tony Leung Chiu-wai,
Tony Leung Chiu-wai,
Michiko Hada,
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Hou Hsiao-hsien,
Hou Hsiao-hsien
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: Not Rated
: Fox Lorber
: Drama, Foreign, Costume Drama/Period Piece, Taiwan
: 113 min.
: Mandarin
: English
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Hou Hsiao-hsien (Goodbye South, Goodbye) directed this Taiwanese-Japanese period drama set in the British section brothels of 19th-century Shanghai. Chu Tien-wen's screenplay was adapted from Han Ziyun's 1894 novel Haishang Huia Liezhuang (Biographies of Flowers of Shanghai), translated from the original dialect to Mandarin during the '30s by Shanghai writer Eileen Chang. Around 1884, during the closing years of Imperial China, Crimson (Japanese actress Michiko Hada) worries that she's about to be dropped by civil servant Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), since he's spending so much time with Jasmin (Wei Hsiao-hui). Emotions escalate when word arrives that Wang will relocate to another post in the Canton province. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
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| Brothel Politics
by talltale
January 25, 2005 - 5:16 AM PST
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3 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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Hsiao-Hsien Hou's FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI was somewhat more palatable for me that his other films "Goodbye South, Goodbye" and "Millennium Mambo." The setting--a Chinese brothel in Shanghai in the 1880s--is exotic and well-photographed, although the overlay of golden hues does begin to pall around the halfway mark. The performances are OK, too, as far as this director allows them to go.
There is no real "plot," just a collection characters--the courtesans, their clients and friends, and the madam--who all glide through their paces. Most possible conections go up in smoke, due to everything from greed to addiction to a kind of general dissatisfaction. At each point at which the story appears to grow more interesting, the director cuts off and switches to another set of characters.
Hou also loves to keep the camera (which, after all, is the window to the mind and soul) at a discreet distance; consequently, the viewer remains there, too--always hoping to get a bit closer to these people. It never happens. For some, this will be the ultimate in subtlety. For me, it's just laziness. Or perhaps just a difference in cultures (although there are plenty of other Asian films I've embraced). When a director receives glowing praise for his body of work, I'm usually interested in experiencing that work; regarding this filmmaker, my interest continues to wane with each of his films that I encounter. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.86)
59 Votes
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