Flowers of Shanghai (1998)

With Flowers of Shanghai, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien delivers the opulent world of late-19th-century Chinese courtesans and their suitors miraculously intact. Hou's films are perhaps the most beguiling yet restrained in all of contemporary cinema, and this is no exception. Told as a series of panel-like portraits, the camera discreetly withdraws from raucous dinner parties and drinking games into the muted, jewel-like chambers of various flower girls. The need to procure patrons and eventual husbands from among their visitors lends an increasing air of anxiety to the games of seduction and betrayal played out within. As the young Master Wang (Tony Leung) soon learns, there is scarcely room for love inside this precarious world of decorum, addiction, and greed. Hou's canny ability to place characters so convincingly within a context is the work of a master filmmaker--nothing is ever assumed or contrived. From the stunning opening dinner scene to the resigned finale, Flowers is a seamless vision. --Fionn Meade Amazon.com

Profane illumination in a Shanghai brothel

I'm utterly baffled by the critics who weren't at least partially moved by this absorbing, at once sensual and cerebral film. It presents a question utterly foreign to consumers of Hollywood fare, but also totally fascinating: what are the limits of exchange? On the surface of the movie, the answer is: there are no limits. But as the film progresses, the director has an opportunity to slowly unfold, layer by layer, the implications of this statement. Occurring as it does in a time when the British are introducing the pleasures of "free trade" to China (the story takes place in 1888, after the two Opium wars; it's significant that the British are also financing these courtesan houses), it holds up this question like a multifaceted jewel to light, exploring in great detail the possibilities of enslavement and freedom that universal prostitution unleashes. It turns the men into both objects of consumption and absolute masters; it turns the women into calculating bookkeepers and artists of emotional cruelty, to themselves as well as each other and the men. All this performed in a highly stylized, exquisite rhythm of ritualized activities (the drinking game, the served meal, the opium pipe, the bookkeeping) where the characters oscillate between sensual abandon and frigid contemplation.

I can see why Eileen Chang liked this story enough to translate it from the original Wu dialect to Mandarin. As the reigning queen of the Chinese short story, "Flowers of Shanghai" contains all the elements that so preoccupied her about the disappearance (or obsolescence) of imperial culture and the struggle of women and men to make a home in modern disenchantment. The movie pairs well with Wong Kar Wai's "In the Mood for Love," "2046" and Ang Lee's recent "Lust / Caution" (all of which were directly or indirectly based on Eileen Chang's works). November 29, 2008

Opium,tea and customers keep the "Flowers" of Shanghai in bloom!

This will not be everyone's cup of green tea.If you are expecting CROUCHING...HIDDEN etc, go elsewhere. If you enjoy deliberate and fixated camera work that moves as slowly and intriquitely as the graceful,quiet movements of the girls of the brothels themselves, then read on, watch the film and learn!This film shows us brothel life in the upscale,British-district "Flower Houses" of 1880's China.Four "flowers" (the girls) are examined in depth through their daily routines, their hopes, their dreams, their motivations, their debts and their customers.The camera work is very reminiscent, IMO, of John Huston's THE DEAD or Terrence Davies films THE LONG DAY CLOSES and NEON BIBLE.The camera slowly,ever so slowly moves as a third party observer;never intruding, but always observing the "hidden" world of the liaisons of the women and men.There is nothing sexual about this film.It is all about the contractual agreements and the way business is done;
Opium and green tea are the main ingredients.

The scenes always take place within the British/Chinese decored "house" parlours, and the lighting is illumined by the natural gas and candlelight to recreate authenticity.

I thought the film brilliant and engrossing, but I am the type that does not require action to keep alert.If you enjoy examining characters closely and increasing your knowledge of the time period and the subject matter, than this will indeed be your cup of green tea! August 16, 2007

An awkward and boring movie

As a native speaker of Shanghai dialect, I have to say that the script is horrible with dialogs very boring and unnatural. Everyone seems to be able to cut their 5 minutes conversation into 20 seconds to mean what they mean. I love slow Chinese movies that use subtle dialogs to hint at the unseen plots (like In the Mood of Love),because it is an efficient and artful way to present the story while focusing on the characters, but the dialogs here only amplify the blankness of the characters. This is a big disappointment especially because the stories can be potentially interesting and the cast is good! It may be pretty to look at, but I would rather stare at a painting. December 6, 2006

Least interesting of all Chinese films I have seen so far

I have seen about 45 Chinese films and I have to say "Flowers of Shanghai" is the least interesting one I have seen so far. I don't mind very slow movies and some of the other Chinese movies I have liked, such as "Yellow Earth" are also slow paced.

"Flowers of Shanghai" takes place in a brothel visited by very well to do Qing officials during the 1880's in Shanghai, a city notorious for its brothels between the late 19th century to the 1930's. While this historical context provides for a potentially interesting storyline, I did not find the scenes of drinking, games and conversations among the Qing officials and their expensive ladies interesting.

I am sorry to say I do not recommend "Flowers of Shanghai" unless you are a fan of Hsiao-hsien Hou, the director. July 19, 2006

Please save your money

Well, to put it in the most polite terms I can think of, this film is on my all time 10 worst films list. I think this film definitely has the potential to top that list.

I am a native speaker Chinese speaker. Plus, I am a native speaker of the Shanghai dialect, the same dialect the actors/actresses in this movie are supposed speak. Well let me tell you from a language standpoint, I had absolutely no idea what those actors/actresses are saying. No clue whatsoever.

It was so painful to hear those actors butcher the Shanghai dialect so badly that I couldn't keep myself from burstting out laughing throughout the movie. It was THAT BAD!? For crying out loud, if the actors couldn't speak the Shanghai dialect, at least use do some dubbing and use some voice actors that can actually speak the Shanghai dialect.



The lead male actor in the movie butchered his Shanghai dialect so badly in the beginning of the movie, that he ended up switching to his native Cantonese dialect for the remainder of the movie. God this is embarrasing.


For a native speaker of Chinese, and a native speaker of the Shanghai dialect, I had to read subtitles in order to understand what's going on in this movie. On top of this, I had to read the subtitles in ENGLISH! Yes that's right, this DVD doesn't even include a Chinese subtitle!




I basically ended up fast forwarding through this movie. The director really should have done some serious work in the cutting room. This movie have the potential to be a good 10 minute short film. But at an hour and half in length, this movie is one of the WORST I have ever seen. September 7, 2005

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