Flowers of Shanghai

For the novel the film is based on, see Shanghai Flowers.

Flowers of Shanghai
DVD Cover
Literally	Shanghai flowers
Directed by	Hou Hsiao-hsien
Screenplay by	Chu T’ien-wen Eileen Chang (translation)
Story by	Han Bangqing
Produced by	Shozo Ichiyama Yang Teng-kuei
Starring	Tony Leung Chiu-Wai Annie Shizuka Inoh Michiko Hada Shuan Fang Jack Kao
Cinematography	Pin Bing Lee
Edited by	Ching-Song Liao
Music by	Yoshihiro Hanno
Release date	1998 (1998)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	Taiwan
Languages	Cantonese Shanghainese

Flowers of Shanghai is a 1998 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and starring Tony Leung, Hada Michiko, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Shuan Fang, Jack Kao, Carina Lau, Rebecca Pan, Michelle Reis, and Vicky Wei. It was voted the third best film of the 1990s in the 1999 Village Voice Film Poll. The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

In four elegant brothels, called "Flower Houses", in fin-de-siècle 19th-century Shanghai (Qing dynasty), we see several affairs. Events presumably take place in 1884, a year named in one of the scenes. The action, which takes place mostly in the light of oil lamps, involves four men who live for pleasure and pursue a number of courtesans.

The courtesans that the men patronize are known as Crimson, Jasmin, Jade, Pearl and Emerald. Crimson belongs to the Huifang Enclave (薈芳里) brothel, while Jasmin works at the East Hexing Enclave (東合興里) brothel. Jade and her friend Pearl work in the Gongyang Enclave (公陽里) brothel, and Emerald resides in the Shangren Enclave (尚仁里) brothel. The relationships between the wealthy patrons and the courtesans are semi-monogamous, frequently lasting many years.

The courtesans are purchased at an early age by the owners of the brothels, known as "aunties". In spite of the trappings of luxury and the wealth surrounding them, the graceful, well-bred courtesans live lives of slavery. The girls, and especially those with less forgiving aunties, are frequently beaten for misbehavior, though such beatings are not seen in the film. Because of oppressive social conventions, the best that the courtesans, known as "flower girls", can hope for is to pay off their debts some day (often with the aid of a wealthy patron) or marry into a better social position.

Much of the film concerns the quiet Master Wang, who leaves the courtesan Crimson at the end of their two-and-a-half-year relationship after he is refused her hand in marriage. He falls for the younger courtesan Jasmin, which angers Crimson. He offers to settle Crimson's debts as compensation for leaving her, as he is her only client and her only source of income. Since she is the sole provider for her entire family, Crimson is in dire need of money and agrees to a settlement. However, Master Wang still has feelings for Crimson. When he finds out she is having an affair with an actor, he launches into a drunken rage. He agrees to marry Jasmin and departs for Guangdong after receiving a promotion. It is later revealed in conversation between other characters that Jasmin has had an affair with Wang's nephew, after which he beats her and she attempts suicide. It is said that the nephew is sent away and the quarrel is resolved, but Wang is miserable and believes himself to have been betrayed by both Crimson and Jasmin.

Another courtesan, Jade, has been given a promise by her lover, the young and immature Master Zhu, that if they cannot be married together, they will die together. When it is apparent that the marriage will not occur, she gives Zhu opium in an attempt to poison him before attempting to drink opium herself. He realizes that she doesn't intend to die and spits out the drug as other girls rush in, saving both Zhu and Jade. Ultimately Master Zhu agrees to pay $5,000 for Jade's freedom and $5,000 for a future dowry so that Jade can buy out her contract and be married off to someone else.

The final courtesan, Emerald, yearns for freedom from life in a brothel. She is supported in her attempts by one of her patrons, Luo. She was bought for $100 by her auntie as a child, but her auntie insists that freedom costs many times that value ($3,000). The negotiation goes on throughout the film. With the help of Master Hong and Emerald, Luo negotiates a satisfactory price and takes Emerald away from the brothel. The film ends with Crimson and an actor that she had an affair with sitting together as she affectionately prepares a pipe for him, contradicting a conversation she had with Wang about making the actor prepare his own pipe by himself.

Cast

Actor	Character
Tony Leung Chiu-wai	Wang
Michiko Hada	Crimson (沈小紅)
Vicky Wei (魏筱惠)	Jasmin (張蕙貞)
Carina Lau	Pearl (周雙珠)
Shuan Fang	Jade (周雙玉)
Michelle Reis	Phoenix (黃翠鳳)
Jack Kao	Luo
Rebecca Pan	Huang
Annie Yi	Golden Flower
Hsu An-an
Firebird Lu	Vagabond #2
Hsu Ming
Pauline Chan
Cheung Shui Chit
Che Hin
Hsu Hui Ni

Critical reception

Film critic J. Hoberman, like Jonathan Rosenbaum, called Hou Hsiao-hsien the best director of the '90s and hailed Flowers of Shanghai as one of Hou's three masterpieces from that decade.

Jeffrey Anderson finds the film incredibly beautiful despite the need for "multiple viewings and incredible patience."

While Jeremy Heilman didn't want to call it Hou's best film, he certainly considered it his prettiest. Kent Jones called the film innovative.

Awards

The film won for Best Director and Best Art Director (Wen-Ying Huang) at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 1998, and the next year the director won the Golden Crow Pheasant at the International Film Festival of Kerala. It was nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes but did not win.

See also

• Sing-song girls
• List of submissions to the 71st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Taiwanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• Flowers of Shanghai at IMDb
• HK cinemagic entry