Rouge

This is a film which is enthralling and gripping from beginning to end. It centers around two lovers from the "wrong sides of the tracks." Leslie Cheung is in love with a high class whore played exquisetely by Anita Mui (as Fleur - or "Flower" in English). Since society was against them being together, Anita poisoned them both but only she died. Her ghost spends the rest of the film (involved with a touching and oftimes comedic sidestory about a reporter and his girlfriend) in search of him. It is beautifully shot throughout. It really reminds one of the "one who got away" so to speak. A definite recommendation.

Sometimes films just take your breath away. This is one of them, for me. I first saw it when it aired on Channel 4 in the UK in the early 90's and then recently managed to pick up a copy on video. After all these years, it's lost none of the impact it had on me when I first saw it.

"Rouge" tells the story of two doomed lovers in the early 1930's. He is a high class gentleman, Twelfth Master Chan Chen-Pang, the heir to three successful medicine stores. She is Fleur, a famous courtesan. His parents disapprove of both his choice of lover and also his passion for the Cantonese opera. They are horrified when he decides to give up the shopkeeping business in favour of becoming an actor and immediately order him to return to the family. So he and Fleur take their own lives, vowing to meet up in the afterlife and be together forever. Fifty years later, her ghost returns to the world of the living, still searching for her beloved Twelfth Master.

On the surface, it's a traditional Chinese romantic ghost story but there's far more lurking underneath. Essentially "Rouge" is a lament on a bygone age of pre-Westernised China, a yearning for a return to the old values, traditions and passions that are now lost beneath the neon lights and soulless rush of modern-day Hong Kong. It's also a lonesome mediation on the nature of trust and the complexity of human relationships with a tragic punchline and a strong sense of alienation running throughout.

Deeply melancholy, loaded with ravishingly beautiful imagery and haunting performances from the two gifted leads (Anita Mui and the ever-mesmerising Lesley Cheung), "Rouge" is an unforgettable, understated and utterly unique piece of filmmaking. A very strange, subtle blend of genres that floats around the mind long after the end credits have finished rolling. 9 out of 10.

This is a ghost story starring Anita Mui as Fleur, who falls in love with Chan Chen-Pang (Leslie Cheung), heir to a chain of pharmacies. After agreeing to a suicide pact, Fleur's ghost appears in modern day Hong Kong, in search of her lost love.

This movie captures a mysterious and eerie atmosphere, spelling out the tragic yet hopeful ghost of Fleur, and the suspenseful search of the missing Pang. It keeps you on your toes as you wonder if the two kinship spirits will reunite, and the haunting flavor of the ghostly plot will keep you captivated. The cinematography captures the beauty of 1930s Hong Kong and the visual effects were great in capturing the ghostly atmosphere. The acting, though, was a little wooden and the story was a little too dreary and depressing - a lack of action and spirit.

Overall, though, it's a pretty good ghost movie and stands out in Hong Kong Cinema.

Grade B-

He promised to go with her, but she found no him. Fifty years had passed. She still kept searching. Perhaps no way did her world go complete without him. But did he keep his promise ??? That's the story.

Hongkong film industry reached the peak in late 80s, and this movie is one of the best produced that time. In it we can find very good actors and director, very beautiful cinematography, and a thoughtful story of course.

Silent and slow but not boring. A must see.

One of those slow, lugubrious films that nevertheless holds your interest if you are intrigued by the stars. And in this case the stars are two all-time greats of Hong Kong cinema, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui. Cheung's complex performance as Mui's lover, simultaneously devoted and ambivalent, is nuanced by the knowledge of his real-life homosexuality. Throughout the film, the camera returns to focus on Mui's face; she holds one's interest through her ability to convey her inner thoughts through an amazing range of facial expressions.

This complicated love story is now made more poignant by the real life fact that both actors died young, in 2003 - Cheung by suicide and Mui by cancer. Recommended for romantics, film buffs, and devotees of Cheung and Mui.