View Larger Image

Flowers of Shanghai Director: Hsiao-hsien Hou Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 113 minutes Studio: Fox Lorber Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-04-16 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 25 Average rating: 3.0 "Nothing happens in this fancy period piece." I was very looking forward to seeing this movie, and I'd bought advance ticket to see it a the VIFF in 98, because it was the first film from Carina Lau since her award-winning film Intimates(Self-Combed). I thought it was going to be her new career high point, but as it turned out, it was just a mediocre "group-scene" movie done like a documentary. Not much great acting was generated from the all-star cast from HK, Taiwan, and Japan. I was quite disappointed. It was very beautiful visually, because they had done a lot of work to the set, costumes and lighting. I found it very hard to follow this film, because most of the actors delivered their lines in Shanghainese, and only Tony Leung spoke some Cantonese for his part. Most of the characters just sit around and smoke pipe and drink tea and wine throughout the movie. There was hardly enough drama to stimulate the viewers. Carina Lau did her best with the way she smoked and poured the tea to her clients, but nothing serious happens that would require her to give more than two or three expressions. I really thought it was wasted her time to be in this movie, considered that she's been in 50 movies and done parts that are so much more challenging than this one. Anyways, you have to be totally interested in old-world Chinese cultures in order to be amused by this movie. "Outstanding film. Mediocre DVD" After seeing this in the theatre it instantly went to the top of favorites for the year in which it was released & remained there for the duration of the year. I enjoy films that pay attention to detail. And while I did read a few reviews before seeing, I found the film's ability to encapsulate the mores & behaviour to be very convincing. Don't know anything about how much research the director put into the project beforehand, nor do I have any knowledge of the time/location to assess the film's accuracy. But the sheer attention to detail had me convinced. While the film is one of the 10 best of the 1990s, this DVD issue is a bit lacking. There are no extra features (except for an unexceptional trailer). More information on the director's research & reasons for portraying things in the way he did would have been very helpful (or a doc on the time to go along with the film). The reason why I knocked off another star was for the poor transfer........although the picture seems free of dirt & scratches, the color seems distorted from what I remember in the theater. Moreover, this version is framed/letterboxed, which shrinks the image down on widescreen tv's/dispays. As this film is very dependent on the cinematography, this really hinders the ability to enjoy it in its full glory. ""Fate has brought them together."" "Flowers of Shanghai" is set in the late 1880s; the story revolves around several Flower Houses--that's a pretty name for brothels. Flower Girls--with names such as Crimson, Emerald, Pearl, Jasmine, Jade, Crystal, and Golden Phoenix, inhabit these houses. Their names imply that they are like precious jewels, and it's true that their earning potential makes them valuable, but they are also beaten and quite replaceable. 'Aunties' buy girls when they are about 7 or 8 years old. The girls' feet are then bound, and the 'Aunties' train the Flower Girls for their 'duties' in the Flower Houses. Girls receive callers, but as the girls become more popular, they may only receive one caller exclusively. It is every Flower Girl's goal to have her freedom purchased by this one exclusive caller who will then make her a second wife. Visually, "Flowers of Shanghai" is a stunning film. The sets are sumptuous, candles delicately light exquisitely beautiful rooms, and wind chimes gently move in the evening breeze. The great beauty in the rooms and houses inhabited by the Flower Girls is in contrast to the ugly reality of their lives. Most evenings, the girls sit around and watch wealthy men gamble and drink. The girls are kept like some sort of exotic pets--they're beautiful to look at, but fragile and expensive. They exist to watch their decadent masters' sport. The film is basically a sequence of beautiful tableaux, and in no sense is this a character-driven story. We actually know very little about the characters, and there is no story in any traditional sense. The film is a depiction of a system, and as such, it exceeds very well. However, since emphasis is not on individual characters, the film flows with a sort of beautiful detachment. "Flowers of Shanghai" is clearly not for all tastes. It is not a traditional film--it is however, a beautiful, artistic film, and those committed to watching it in its entirety will grasp the director, Hsiao-hsien Hou's design--displacedhuman "Can I get a refund?" I fast-forwarded through this movie and I would feel best served by it if I could get my money back... This movie is really boring to death, well, unless you're trying to practice your Chinese skills. So here's your One Star - Winstar. "A formal masterpiece" Flowers of Shanghai is a fascinating film, beautiful film, capturing the life n a turn of the century Shanghai brothel. The film is told through key scenes, all of whih are exquisitely shot in low-light. Some reviewers here complaining about the pacing, but they obviously miss the point. The slow shots, and scenes, help imerse you into what was a very different world than today's West or East, and by the time the film is done, you have been imersed in the language and environment of these characters, and understand the rules and structures they live under. Yes, there is not one linear story, but in truth several, as each dialogue also talks about other characters, so in that sense, this movie feels like a novel of that time, in which a world is revealed within a diner scene. The movie is not all style, and in fact, I find more like a dense layer cake, absorbing you into its experience.