Flowers of Shanghai (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

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(as of Feb 23, 2025 02:09:41 UTC – Details)


An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, this gorgeous period reverie by Hou Hsiao-hsien traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around four late-nineteenth-century Shanghai “flower houses,” where the courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor but 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 languorous 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. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack • New introduction by critic Tony Rayns • Beautified Realism, a new documentary by Daniel Raim and Eugene Suen on the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Lee, producer and editor Liao Ching-sung, production designer Hwarng Wern-ying, and sound recordist Tu Duu-chih • Excerpts from a 2015 interview with Hou, recorded as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Oral History Projects • Trailer • English subtitle translation by Rayns • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Jean Ma and a 2009 interview with Hou conducted by scholar Michael Berry
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.77 x 5.28 x 0.55 inches; 3.53 ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ BR3252
Director ‏ : ‎ Hsiao-hsien Hou
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Subtitled, Blu-ray
Release date ‏ : ‎ May 18, 2021
Actors ‏ : ‎ Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Michiko Hada, Michelle Reis, Carina Lau, Jack Kao
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
Studio ‏ : ‎ The Criterion Collection
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08WKNYDLM
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1