Watch Flowers of Shanghai For Free

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Great Film overall

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I came to this movie because Mark Lee Ping Bin did the cinematography, and I was not let down. For a movie that never leaves the four walls of various brothels throughout Shanghai, each scene really fills up the screen, has irresistible colors and lighting and splendor, only to fade softly into black and light up into something new. Imagine how delighted I was to find that the cinematography was matched by an equally strong concept, and that the film is basically a series of vitriolic or pining Craigstlist missed connections ads nestled within an intricate and iron-clad social hierarchy.A fun touch: in the first conversation of the film, one master tells a tale over dinner, sitting around the table with his friends and their companions. It is the story of Crystal (whose outcome will be revealed later in the film) and her lover, a young patron named Yufu. The speaker says that Crystal and Yufu are joined together like toffee, star-crossed lovers who can't get enough of each other. Soon, a debate breaks out: is this type of love a healthy way to live? A few men balk at the idea that growing gaunt from staring into one another's eyes is acceptable. Then the film drags us through countless loveless or otherwise fraught relationships where everyone is withering, suicidal or raging. Seems that in 19th century Shanghai, you just can't win.Watch out for Master Wang...he's the pesky stray thread that undoes the whole damned sweater.

The film Hai shang hua was shown in the U.S. with the title Flowers of Shanghai (1998). It was directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou.This movie is a Japanese film, but the dialog is in Cantonese, Mandarin, and the Wu language of Shanghai. (Although I haven't seen any confirmation of this, it looked to me as if some of the dialog was dubbed. Possibly the actors were speaking Japanese, but were dubbed into Chinese.)This is a meticulous, careful film about houses of prostitution in Shanghai in 1884. Four houses are represented, but I have to admit that it wasn't always clear to me in which house the action was taking place. These houses, called "Flower Houses," were only for the very wealthy and powerful. The furnishings were elegant, there were servants everywhere, and the women were very beautiful. Unlike what we outsiders know about geishas, these women didn't appear to be skilled in musical instruments or singing. Everyone understands that they perform their professional duties in the bedrooms. However, the houses are used for parties and drinking, with the women present as hostesses and onlookers. (Incidentally, in a film about prostitutes, there's absolutely no visible flesh--all the women are fully. and elegantly. clothed at all times.)The social hierarchy of both the "flowers" and their clients is carefully delineated and known to all. The "Aunties" rule the houses, but the women themselves have a carefully defined status. They are more like indentured servants than slaves, even though they have been purchased from their parents at a young age. Some of the women have their own servants, and the houses are full of cooks and waitresses.This film was shot completely indoors, in sets, in Japan. There's not a single scene shot outside one of the houses. People talk about going for a ride in the park, or for an evening at the opera, but we never see anyone actually do this. Instead, we have a complex indoor social world, with feuds, ambitions, betrayals, and greedy acts all taking place before us. Hou Hsiao-hsien is known for his long takes, and his slow dissolves. Typically, his camera doesn't move at all, although in this film it moves, but only slowly and carefully. This is a film that I highly recommend, although I admit that I wasn't always certain about the specifics of the plots. As I read the IMDb synopsis, I realized that I had missed some key elements. However, I still enjoyed the movie, and it will work--as it did for me--even if you can't always remember which flower is Jasmin and which is Jade.We saw this film as part of a Hou Hsiao-hsien retrospective at the wonderful Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House in Rochester. It will work on DVD, but it you get a chance to see it in a theater, go for it. It's interesting, powerful, and opens up a whole new world.

I bought this movie--oh, pardon me, "film"--because I am fascinated with Chinese culture. And because I have a new, Chinese lady in my life. I thought my having this movie would impress her, in the unlikely event that my charm wasn't sufficient! I must also confess that the beautiful cover of the DVD case (which is also depicted at IMDb) in the video store seduced me. I'm such a sucker for shrewd marketing. "A visually ravishing masterpiece...One of the most beautiful films ever made", proclaims the endorsement on the cover. In addition, to a westerner, anything with the word "Shanghai" in it seems to evoke romantic images of far away places--far away places which when visited, more often than not, make one yearn for home. Alas. The grass is always greener on the other side.The entire movie was shot indoors, probably on a budget of $10,000, in the drawing rooms of brothels, with rather poor lighting to boot. Oh, I know the candle-lit ambience was intentional. Still, it was rather hard on the eyes. A ray of sunlight would have been a welcome relief.It is essentially a series of vignettes about the relationships between Chinese hookers, their johns & mesdames, to put it bluntly. Petty jealousies, whining, conniving & duplicity abound. From FOS, I learned that women in 1880s Shanghai were just as catty as women in 2000s Winnipeg, Canada. The hookers spend much of their time pouting that their johns weren't paying off their old debts fast enough. Chinese men of that era were, apparently, just as naïve & dumb as Canadian men today, a sad fact to which I can attest from experience. (I don't know about you guys, but now when I meet a woman who even hints that I should pay her bills, I bolt.)Obviously, the director has studied Ingmar Bergman well: FOS is just as uninspiring as Bergman's depressing "masterpieces". One user gushes that this movie's cinematography "can be simply orgasmic at times". Yeah, right. Unfortunately, there wasn't one orgasm had during the movie's plodding two hour plus run time. At least that might have awoken me from my slumber as I struggled to maintain interest in the movie.This ain't no "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", believe me. Now THAT is a movie, eh? Action! Adventure! Romance! Unrequited love! The folly of youth! The folly of middle-age! FOS is more like a dirge compared to that movie. It is what you'd get if Igmar Bergman were to direct an episode of Masterpiece Theatre. (Is that still running? I dunno, 'cause I haven't watched TV in eight years.) I suffered through about an hour of FOS until I couldn't take any more.So much for "films". Give me a good ol' movie any day, thank you. Long live the Coen brothers! And Spielberg! This one's going back to the video store--that is, if they're stupid enough to take it back.

This is something strange to explain; it's a very aesthetic film. It's certainly very slow for many people, but if you get in it, you lose track of time because it is so much fascinating. A strange sensation. A really beautiful film in all my heart. This is these sorts of films you love more and more when you watch them.If you like cinema, don't miss it. You won't regret it.