SHANGHAI BLUES (Shang Hai Zhi Ye) Tsui Hark | Hong Kong 1984
In this uninhibitedly eccentric screwball comedy by Tsui Hark—where jokes and moods explode like fireworks (Hong Kong cinema at its finest!)—Tung (Kenny Bee) and Shu-Shu (Sylvia Chang) meet under a Shanghai bridge during a Japanese air-raid in 1937. They fall in love at first sight and promise to reunite on the same spot ten years later. Unfortunately it is so dark that they never really see each other’s faces, and when the decade is up that turns out to be only the first stumbling-block to happiness: Shanghai and its people have changed, cynicism has ousted romance. Then Stool (Sally Yeh) enters the scene, moving in with Shu-Shu and promptly falling for Tung herself, giving the carousel of mix-ups and misunderstandings an extra spin.
“A film of coloured lanterns and neon signs, a film of a thousand wonders. Perhaps the greatest wonder is that, beneath all the bustle, melancholy, wistful undertones keep resonating. Shanghai Blues is set just before the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War—Tsui’s movie is a nostalgic utopia, a love letter to a capitalist, hedonistic modern China that was granted no future.” —Lukas Foerster, critic.de, Feb 2025
Screenplay: Raymond To Kwok-wai, Szeto Cheuk-hon, John Chan Koon-chung
Cinematography: Peter Ngor Chi-kwan
Music: James Wong Jim, Tang Siu-lam
Editing: Chow Siu-sum
Cast: Sylvia Chang (Shu-Shu), Sally Yeh (Stool), Kenny Bee (Tung Kwok-man), Loletta Lee Lai-chun, Shing Fui-on, Wu Feng, Patrick Lung Kong
102 min, colour, DCP, original version with English subtitles
Screenings
Filmpodium, Nüschelerstrasse 11, 8001 Zürich
Mon 1 Dec 2025 20:45 TICKET
Thu 11 Dec 2025 18:30 TICKET
Fri 19 Dec 2025 20:45 TICKET
Series: Classics – Shanghai BluesFor more details, please scan: https://www.filmpodium.ch/film/172294?utm_medium=display&utm_source=kulturzueri.ch&utm_campaign=kulturzueri
