Flowers of Shanghai = Hai shang hua

In four late-nineteenth-century Shanghai "flower houses", courtesans live confined to opulent splendor but are forced to work to buy back their freedom, and romantic intrigue, jealousies and tensions roil around their assignations.

Audience:

Unrated.

General Note:

Originally released as a motion picture in 1998.

Based on "The Sing-song girls of Shanghai" by Han Ziyun.

Wide screen (1.85:1).

Restored by the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival.

Special features: new introduction by critic Tony Rayns; new documentary "Beautified realism" 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.

Edition:

DVD special edition.

Physical Description:

1 videodisc (113 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (43 pages : color illustrations ; 18 cm)

Genre:

Films in Chinese (Cantonese)