He Saifei Movies
- 1995
Two long-time female friends in love with same man form the basis for this Chinese romantic saga. The story begins after the 1949 Communist takeover in China. Prior to that, the two women Xiao and Qiuyi had been prostitutes. Qiuyi was a proud woman with high ideals. Xiao was born and raised in a bordello, the Red Happiness Inn. Whereas Qiuyi is strong and independent, Xiao is nervous and dependent upon others. After the takeover, the women left the brothel and were to be rehabilitated. Qiuyi escapes and begins living with the youthful, wealthy Lao Pu, a former customer. She gets pregnant but is too proud to let on. Instead she cloisters herself in a Buddhist nunnery and ignores Lao's pleas to come home. The Buddhist discover her pregnancy and evict her. She then miscarries. Meanwhile, Xiao completes her rehab and works in a silk factory. There she meets Lao who has lost all his wealth and now works. They have and affair. She gets pregnant. On their wedding day, Qiuyi appears carrying the yellow umbrella of separation. After the wedding, Lao and Xiao begin having terrible fights. He misses Qiuyi. He chooses a radical solution to his problem. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Chen Kaige, the director of the international smash Farewell My Concubine, reunited that film's stars, Gong Li and Leslie Cheung, for this complexly layered, visually spectacular historical epic. Opening in 1911, shortly before the collapse of the Imperial government, Temptress Moon follows the wealthy and powerful Pang Family, whose patriarch is hopelessly addicted to opium, which he calls "the source of all inspiration." Zhengda (Zhou Yemang), Old Master Pang's oldest son, has married a woman named Xiuyi (He Saifei), and her younger brother Zhongliang is brought to live with the Pangs, where he earns his keep as a servant. Zhengda shares his father's dependence on opium, and Zhongliang's responsibilities include minding their pipes; Zhengda also forces Zhongliang to kiss Xiuyi in a shadowy incident that suggests an incestuous relationship. In time, Zhongliang grows to adulthood (now played by Leslie Cheung) and flees the Pang estate; he travels to Shanghai, where he becomes a gigolo, seducing women and stealing their valuables. After Old Master Pang dies and Zhengda's addiction to drugs renders him brain damaged, his sister Ruyi (Gong Li), who had been Zhongliang's playmate in childhood, is proclaimed the head of the household. Knowing of his connection to the Pang Family and long-ago friendship with Ruyi, Zhongliang is ordered by his bosses in the Shanghai underworld to return to the Pang estate, where he is to seduce her, gain control of the family's fortune, and then steal it from her. Like Farewell My Concubine, Temptress Moon proved to be controversial in its native China, due to its frank but unsensational depiction of sex and drug use. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, (more)
Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee adapts this Eileen Chang story set in World War II-era Shanghai that details the political intrigue surrounding a powerful political figure named Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Spanning the late '30s and early '40s, the movie introduces us to Hong Kong teen Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), a shy college freshman who finds her calling in a drama society devoted to patriotic plays. But the troupe's leader, Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom), isn't just a theater maven -- he's a revolutionary as well, and he's devoted to carrying out a bold plan to assassinate top Japanese collaborator Mr. Yee. Each student has an important role to play, and Wong puts herself in a dangerous position as Mrs. Mak; she befriends Mr. Yee's wife (Joan Chen), and slowly gains trust before tempting him into an affair. While at first the plan goes exactly as scripted, things suddenly take a deadly turn and Wong is emigrated from Hong Kong. Later, in 1941, the occupation shows no signs of ceasing and Wong is simply drifting through her days in Shanghai. Much to her surprise, the former actress finds Kuang requesting that she resume the role of Mrs. Mak. Now, as Wong again gains intimate access to her dangerous prey, she must struggle with her own identity in order to pull off the performance of a lifetime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tang Wei, (more)
