In late-19th-century Shanghai, brothels are known as “flower houses.” A small and confined world unto themselves, the brothels offer an alternate universe for the well-to-do male clientele. But for the women who work within, the brothels are no fantasyland; they either succumb to this reality or fight against destiny.
Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien. AKA Flowers of Shanghai
Writers: Bangqing Han (from the 1892 dialect novel by) (as Han Ziyun), Eileen Chang (novel), T’ien-wen Chu (writer).
Stars: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Hada Michiko, Carina Lau Ka Ling, Jack Kao, Michelle Reis, Vicky Wei, Rebecca Pan, Firebird Liu, Michiko Hada, Shuan Fang, Annie Shizuka Inoh.
Cinematographer: Ping Bin Lee.
Composers: Yoshihiro Hanno, Duu-Chih Tu.
1998 Cannes Film Festival – Nominated for the Palme d’Or.
Nice!
Is there a way to see the film from the new restoration released by Criterion but with the old Tony Rayns subtitles?
Despite being shot in three poorly lit interiors, and languid pacing that is more fit for theater than a film, Flowers of Shanghai is not without its fascinations. The
superb script throws a radiant light on the cultural differences between East and West as it concerns the former’s complex emotional and romantic relationships with their oourtesans (women for hire), and the latter’s complex relationships with their Madames.