10-17-2025, 12:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-17-2025, 12:04 PM by Drunk Monk.)
This was included alongside the Mr. Vampire & Chinese Ghost Story franchises in Criterion's Hong Kong horror selections. That confused me because I never saw it and thought it was a romance. I remember when this came out - it was a big blockbuster and captured many noms & awards. It stars Anita Mui, who I've never been that much of a fan of, and Leslie Cheung, the queen & king of cantopop at the time (a music genre that I wasn't into at all). Cheung died of suicide - leapt from a building - I was in Shaolin when it happened and remember discussing it with locals. They were fascinated because he was gay and that was still very taboo back in 2003 in PRC.
Well, it is a romance - a bittersweet and tragic one at that. Mui plays the ghost of a 1930s prostitute who returns from spending 50 years in hell to find her lover (Cheung) because they had a suicide love pact but he didn't show. Mui is amazing in the role and totally reframed my perception of her. There's no special effects, no spooky cheesy ghost stuff. Mui skips back and forth between her memories of the opulent brothel where she was a top whore, and modern (80s) Hong Kong where the brothel was replaced by a kindergarten. When her qi fades, she goes without make up, making for a raw authentic performance, full of longing and melancholy. The 'rouge' is a poetic device - Cheung gifts Mui a rouge locket, and there's focus upon how she can appear differently, being what her clients want, and when she's a ghost and her qi is depleting, she uses it to hide her weakness. It's a well played device. There's a lot of opium smoking, and the pacing of this film is slow, as if in an opium haze, yet beautiful. I get why this caught the attention of critics and Criterion. It's a singular work, richly layered, and oh so tragically romantic.
Not D00M recommended because you guys have no sense of romance (and tQ, who allegedly is addicted to romance novels, can't stand subtitles).
Well, it is a romance - a bittersweet and tragic one at that. Mui plays the ghost of a 1930s prostitute who returns from spending 50 years in hell to find her lover (Cheung) because they had a suicide love pact but he didn't show. Mui is amazing in the role and totally reframed my perception of her. There's no special effects, no spooky cheesy ghost stuff. Mui skips back and forth between her memories of the opulent brothel where she was a top whore, and modern (80s) Hong Kong where the brothel was replaced by a kindergarten. When her qi fades, she goes without make up, making for a raw authentic performance, full of longing and melancholy. The 'rouge' is a poetic device - Cheung gifts Mui a rouge locket, and there's focus upon how she can appear differently, being what her clients want, and when she's a ghost and her qi is depleting, she uses it to hide her weakness. It's a well played device. There's a lot of opium smoking, and the pacing of this film is slow, as if in an opium haze, yet beautiful. I get why this caught the attention of critics and Criterion. It's a singular work, richly layered, and oh so tragically romantic.
Not D00M recommended because you guys have no sense of romance (and tQ, who allegedly is addicted to romance novels, can't stand subtitles).
Shadow boxing the apocalypse