2005-02-09 03:51:54尚未設定
胭脂扣
(reviewed on 5/2/05)
胭脂扣 (Rouge)
year: 1987
country: Hong Kong
directed by: 關錦鵬 (Stanley Kwan)
To start with, I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of ghost stories. Besides the fact that I don't personally believe in ghosts, it is hardly encouraging to note that movies dealing with the subject are predominantly only made to scare (or worse, shock) its audience. As a special entity itself, a ghost could indeed be a fascinating starting point for fictional representation - interestingly, it stands for something of the past misplaced in a present space. One of the most popular ways to treat the subject in a meaningful way is demonstrated in love stories involving ghosts, as the sense of lost love is further manifested by the problematic existence of the ghosts themselves.
In Stanley Kwan's 'Rouge', Fleur (played by 梅艷芳 Anita Mui) was a renouned courtesan working in a 'flower house' back in the 1930's. She was deeply in love with a rich young man called 'Twelfth Master' Chan (played by 張國榮 Leslie Cheung). The romance is disapproved by Chan's family, and the lovers resort to death. After their suicide, Fleur was unable to find Chan in limbo, and after 50 years, she decides to travel back on earth to seek out her disappeared lover. Attempting to place a missing-person classified ad on the newspaper, she subsequently earns the sympathy of the newspaper staff and his girlfriend, who agrees to help her find Chan.
Based on the novel by 李碧華 (Lillian Lee), the film is a success in combining elements of art and commercial cinemas. On the commercial side, in Anita and Leslie 'Rouge' features the two most popular stars of Hong Kong at the time; its lavish production settings of the old flower house also displays the glamourous side of the commercial cinema. Besides, while some early scenes, such as the one in which the newspaper editor finds out that Fleur is a ghost, are cheesy and melodramatic, some other sequences can also be said as highly unconvincing - say, I find it quite incredible that one moment the editor was frightened to death by the ghost, the next moment he's already invited the ghost for a visit home.
On the other hand, one has to appreciate Kwan's effort as he ensures the ultra-ordinary story does not look cliched in the end product. Of course, that also has a lot to do with the mesmerizing performance of Anita Mui in her challenging role as the ghost; the director is wise to linger his camera frequently on his classy lead. Especially in the opening and end sequence of the film, the close-ups of the silent Anita Mui against the violently red wallpaper are breathtakingly gorgeous.
Indeed, 'Rouge' is not only a romantic ghost story, it is more of a yearning for a bygone era. Although the ghost was a prostitute and her story is found to be more complicated after secrets are unveiled, it still embodies the purest form of love, of which the film suggests that people of the modern time have forgotten. Whereas the Westernisation of Hong Kong is emphasized as traditional Chinese tea is shown to be replaced by Coca-cola, the longing for lost time and places are obvious during Fleur's travel to the now hugely-altered locales.
Seeing the film today, a subtext involving the two leads inevitably pops up in the audience's mind. Is it too much of a coincidence that the two of them, who were very good friends in real life, both passed away in the same year of 2003? Seeing one of their characters aged in the film, I can't help but moan for the fact that neither of them would ever reach that age in reality. (Gosh, I now notice that the Anita Mui on the movie poster is in fact very very ghostly...)
rating: 7/10
胭脂扣 (Rouge)
year: 1987
country: Hong Kong
directed by: 關錦鵬 (Stanley Kwan)
To start with, I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of ghost stories. Besides the fact that I don't personally believe in ghosts, it is hardly encouraging to note that movies dealing with the subject are predominantly only made to scare (or worse, shock) its audience. As a special entity itself, a ghost could indeed be a fascinating starting point for fictional representation - interestingly, it stands for something of the past misplaced in a present space. One of the most popular ways to treat the subject in a meaningful way is demonstrated in love stories involving ghosts, as the sense of lost love is further manifested by the problematic existence of the ghosts themselves.
In Stanley Kwan's 'Rouge', Fleur (played by 梅艷芳 Anita Mui) was a renouned courtesan working in a 'flower house' back in the 1930's. She was deeply in love with a rich young man called 'Twelfth Master' Chan (played by 張國榮 Leslie Cheung). The romance is disapproved by Chan's family, and the lovers resort to death. After their suicide, Fleur was unable to find Chan in limbo, and after 50 years, she decides to travel back on earth to seek out her disappeared lover. Attempting to place a missing-person classified ad on the newspaper, she subsequently earns the sympathy of the newspaper staff and his girlfriend, who agrees to help her find Chan.
Based on the novel by 李碧華 (Lillian Lee), the film is a success in combining elements of art and commercial cinemas. On the commercial side, in Anita and Leslie 'Rouge' features the two most popular stars of Hong Kong at the time; its lavish production settings of the old flower house also displays the glamourous side of the commercial cinema. Besides, while some early scenes, such as the one in which the newspaper editor finds out that Fleur is a ghost, are cheesy and melodramatic, some other sequences can also be said as highly unconvincing - say, I find it quite incredible that one moment the editor was frightened to death by the ghost, the next moment he's already invited the ghost for a visit home.
On the other hand, one has to appreciate Kwan's effort as he ensures the ultra-ordinary story does not look cliched in the end product. Of course, that also has a lot to do with the mesmerizing performance of Anita Mui in her challenging role as the ghost; the director is wise to linger his camera frequently on his classy lead. Especially in the opening and end sequence of the film, the close-ups of the silent Anita Mui against the violently red wallpaper are breathtakingly gorgeous.
Indeed, 'Rouge' is not only a romantic ghost story, it is more of a yearning for a bygone era. Although the ghost was a prostitute and her story is found to be more complicated after secrets are unveiled, it still embodies the purest form of love, of which the film suggests that people of the modern time have forgotten. Whereas the Westernisation of Hong Kong is emphasized as traditional Chinese tea is shown to be replaced by Coca-cola, the longing for lost time and places are obvious during Fleur's travel to the now hugely-altered locales.
Seeing the film today, a subtext involving the two leads inevitably pops up in the audience's mind. Is it too much of a coincidence that the two of them, who were very good friends in real life, both passed away in the same year of 2003? Seeing one of their characters aged in the film, I can't help but moan for the fact that neither of them would ever reach that age in reality. (Gosh, I now notice that the Anita Mui on the movie poster is in fact very very ghostly...)
rating: 7/10