| The original "Peony Pavilion"
was a 19 hour long epic Chinese opera, and this film gives us a similar love theme
with the story of Jade (Rie Miyazawa), an opera performer who becomes the fifth
wife of a nobleman in 1930's China. She's really in love with her husband's cousin
Lan (Joey Wang, Swordsman III), a woman
who dresses like a man. Their courtship is presented in a traditional Chinese
opera style, with little dialog and long musical sequences. But both women
also have relationships with men. Jade has a fondness for one of her butlers,
and when we jump forward several years to see Lan working as a teacher (and no
longer dressing as a man), she has a torrid affair with another male teacher.
This crushes Jade, who longs for the days when she was most happy - performing
for audiences with the devoted attention of Lan. The film is long at more
than two hours and can be confusing as it moves between different time frames.
The costumes and cinematography both won awards in Hong Kong, and it's a production
that is beautiful to watch, but the pace is very slow. Joey Wang is stunning as
Lan in a tuxedo though! Narrated by Brigitte Lin (Dragon Inn,
Peking Opera Blues, Swordsman III). |
