Rent Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
3.7 of 5 from 74 ratings
1h 53min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, this gorgeous period reverie by Hou Hsiao-hsien traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around four late-nineteenth-century Shanghai "flower houses", where courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor but forced to work to buy back their freedom. Among the regular clients is the taciturn Master Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), whose relationship with his longtime mistress (Michiko Hada) is roiled by a perceived act of betrayal. Composed in a languorous procession of entrancing long takes, Flowers of Shanghai evokes a vanished world of decadence and cruelty, an insular universe where much of the dramatic action remains tantalizingly offscreen - even as its emotional fallout registers with quiet devastation. - Actors:
- Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Michiko Hada, Michelle Reis, Carina Lau, Jack Kao, Rebecca Pan, Vicky Wei, Hsuan Fang, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Ming Hsu, Josephine A. Blankstein, Pauline Chan, Simon Chang, Tony Chang, Shui Chit Cheung, Wei-kuo Chiang, Hui-ni Hsu, Joe Lee, Yu-Hang Lee, Yu-han Lin
- Directors:
- Hsiao-hsien Hou
- Producers:
- Teng-Kuei Yang, Shôzô Ichiyama
- Writers:
- Eileen Chang, T'ien-wen Chu, Bangqing Han
- Aka:
- Hai shang hua
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like: Raise the Red Lantern, Films to Watch If You Like...
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 14/06/2021
- Run Time:
- 113 minutes
- Languages:
- Cantonese DTS 5.1, Shanghainese DTS 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New introduction by critic Tony Rayns
- Beautified Realism, a new documentary by Daniel Raim and Eugene Suen on the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Lee, producer and editor Liao Ching-sung, production designer Hwarng Wern-ying, and sound recordist Tu Duu-chih
- Excerpts from a 2015 interview with Hou, recorded as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Oral History Projects
- Trailer
