Flowers of Shanghai
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Movie Reviews of Flowers of Shanghai
Movie Review: BORING...
Summary: 2 Stars
I love asian films but this is one of the most boring movie made. Throughout the whole movie, i couldnt even see anyones face and I felt like falling asleep.Movie Review: Slow, Uneventful and Stilted - Like watching paint dry!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this DVD on the basis of the single review in Amazon and thought that I would do other prospective buyers a service so that you do not waste money as I did. So here's my review....This is the most boring and stilted film it's been my misfortune to watch for some time (and believe me I see a lot of films). There is nothing to keep one's interest, neither sympathy nor interest for the characters nor the visual aspects of the film. That's not to say that I was expecting a high-octane thriller with car chases and explosions but even the most artful of "art house" films should still generate some degree of interest in the viewer. Having a story-line would help also. I couldn't discern one here.
The entire film takes place in what looks like exactly the same set but to make it look like somewhere else they have moved some of the chairs around. After ten minutes you want to press "pause" and go to make coffee - you know that feeling, don't you - when a film fails to grip you and drag you into its world.
Anyway, I tried to persevere and not give in to the boredom but after around an hour my girlfriend begged me, (actually "threatened" is a more appropriate word) to take it off so I "threw in the towel" at that point. Approximately nothing had happened by then anyway and there seemed to be little liklihood of any developments before the end of the film.
Unfortunately this film tries to make it's main weakness (lack of anything happening) into an asset (Chinese inscrutibility, "Atmosphere") and fails miserably.
Save your money and use it to buy some of the better Chinese films which are available, many of which are excellent such as "Raise the Red Lantern".
Movie Review: Please save your money
Summary: 1 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Least interesting of all Chinese films I have seen so far
Summary: 1 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Just not interesting enough to keep me awake
Summary: 1 Stars
The 1998 Chinese film is set in a 1880s brothel. The "flowers" are the young women who have been raised since childhood for their profession. Competition for the gentlemen goes on all the time as each woman hopes to become a "second wife" to a rich man. The men also wonder if the love these women profess is real.
Like many Chinese movies, the pacing is slow and stylized. Sometimes I can enjoy a film like this but this particular story was just not interesting enough to keep me awake, the cinematography used too many shadows and the acting never engaged me. After about an hour, I shut it off and couldn't bear to go back to it the next day. You won't miss anything if you skip this one. Not recommended.