Available to rent for $9.99
Dec 14 - Jan 11
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien
1998, Taiwan, 113 min
Cantonese & Shanghainese with English subtitles
This title is available to rent via Cinematheque at Home for $9.99. This is not only an opportunity for our patrons to see new cinema, but is an important way that they can continue to support independent film during this pandemic with 50% of all sales supporting our theatre.
An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s gorgeous period reverie traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around a late 19th century Shanghai brothel, where the courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor yet 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 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.
Looking Backwards // Moving Forwards is our ongoing series shining a light on the important work being done to preserve and promote the history of film via new digital restorations. Generously Sponsored by IATSE 856.
