DIRECTOR’S CUT
4K RESTORATION
Director: Stanley Kwan
Runtime: 155 minutes
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese, Shanghainese with Chinese and English subtitles
Rating: NC16
Awards
BEST LEADING ACTRESS (Maggie Cheung)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Golden Horse Film Festival 1991
BEST ACTRESS (Maggie Cheung)
Berlin International Film Festival 1992
BEST ACTRESS
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST ART DIRECTION
BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE
BEST ORIGINAL FILM SONG
Hong Kong Film Awards 1993
Synopsis
Kaleidoscopic yet intimate, Center Stage is a portrait of the meteoric rise of Chinese silent-movie star Ruan Lingyu in 1930s Shanghai and her abrupt downfall. Though lauded for her on-screen charisma and moving performances, Ruan became entangled in several scandals perpetuated by gossip tabloids culminating in her early suicide. Anchored in an entrancing and deeply-moving portrayal by Hong Kong cinema icon Maggie Cheung, the film is a meditative and multi-layered study of Ruan’s psyche. Synthesising stills from Ruan’s films, archival footage and meta-narrative commentaries, director Stanley Kwan adopts a hybrid approach to the biopic that deftly navigates Ruan’s complicated career to reveal the harrowing consequences of fame. As Kwan’s first feature shot on-location in China, Center Stage pulses with beauty, pain and passion, supported by a luscious mise-en-scène that lends the film its realistic and nostalgic gravitas.
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