Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a movie I think people either like a lot or dislike a lot. I've seen it twice in movie houses and now three times on DVD. It's a cool film, decadent to the core and with only one really likeable character, a 14 year old boy. I'm one of those who like it a lot.
The boy is brought to Shanghai (in the 1930s) by his gangster uncle to work in the "family" of a powerful, aging drug boss. The drug lord's mistress, a nightclub singer, is played by Gong Li. The boy is assigned to fetch and carry for her. Gong Li plays her as a willful, beautiful, selfish and perhaps overly confident courtesan. Gong Li sings and dances several times as the star of the nightclub, and she is wonderful in the part.
Nearly everything is seen from the perspective of the boy -- which means you don't get the full picture at any one time. There's a brutal gang attack and the boss with his key henchmen, his mistress and the boy flee to an isolated fog-bound island to regroup and plot. There's betrayal and merciless, calculated revenge, and practical killing. The ending, needless to say, is not pleasant...except, perhaps, for the boss. The boy, at least, survives.
The film is gorgeous to look at and beautifully lit and photographed. The DVD transfer is excellent.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Shanghai Triad (1995)
A prostitute is used as bait between feuding ganglords in 1930s Shanghai.Genre: Foreign Film - ChineseRating: RRelease Date: 12-DEC-2000Media Type: DVD
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