3. ROUGE (1989)
No film more confounded my expectations of a Hong Kong movie. So strikingly different it stands out not simply because of it’s total lack of kung fu, bloodshed or swordplay, but also because of the thoughtful and intelligent way director Stanley Kwan tells it’s tragic love story. ‘Cantonese Madonna’ Anita Mui stars as courtesan Fleur in a high class brothel who falls for the son of a rich family, played by Lesile Cheung. When it becomes obvious their relationship is doomed the couple agree agree to commit suicide rather than not be together.
Some fifty years on Fleur returns as a ghost from hell looking for her lover. Part derision on the gestures of doomed romance stories, part soliloquy for the westernisation of Hong Kong that happened over that time. Often overlooked this is a beautiful film that deserves a wider audience. A non-action movie produced by the world’s biggest action star, Jackie Chan!
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Actress aka Centre Stage (1992)
Also directed by Kwan and produced by Chan, Maggie Cheung stars in a true story about a Chinese film star of the 1920s who played the lead in a biopic about an actress so hounded by the press that she committed suicide, and then has the same happen to her.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Acclaimed arthouse director Wong Kar-wai directs this tale of a restrained affair that develops between two neighbours played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung.
Ashes of Time (1994)
An unusual step into swordplay for Wong creates a beautiful fairy tale of swordsmen and women whose lives all become entangled with the owner of an inn. An all star cast includes Maggie, Leslie and Tony.
