Flowers of Shanghai [DVD] - Classic Chinese Drama Film for Movie Lovers & Collectors - Perfect for Home Theater Nights and Asian Cinema Enthusiasts

(NB this is a review of the film itself not of the DVD) Filmed in Shanghainese and partly in Cantonese, Hou Xiao Xian's "Flowers of Shanghai" is an achingly beautiful account of the intimate and, at turns, often tragic world of a flower house, or brothel, in turn of the century Shanghai. Based on a famous nineteenth century Chinese novel (unfortunately not translated into English to my knowledge), it examines the lives of several of the flower girls and their rich clients and examines the cruelty, deceit, hypocrisy as well as the hopes and aspirations of this intimate and highly formal world. In a society where arranged marriage was the norm, the flower houses were often the only place where young men could experiment with romantic love and, contrary to what many people in the West may think, they were not places where the women were simply the victims of male sexual exploitation. Indeed, the women exert a tremendous amount of power and influence over the men and it is often difficult to know just who is exploiting whom. Many male clients were torn between the desire of genuinely finding true love and the fear that their flower girl was just using them to buy herself out, whilst the flower girls feared that they couldn't rely on their male clients - whose declarations of lasting love and support were often only ephemeral and meaningless. Some hoped to marry their rich clients without loving them, some hoped that their rich clients did love them, whilst others simply tried to quietly put away enough money to buy themselves out or support their families. At the end of the film, one's sympathies lie with both the men and the women in equal measure, as one comes to realise that they are all victims of the same stifled and repressive system, where manners and formality reigns and true feelings remain unexpressed. Hou Xiao Xian's film makes use of long static shots (his trademark) and formal fade outs and, together with the wonderfully haunting soundtrack, it is a wonderful, hypnotic, work of art. The whole film creates an illusion of a static and unchanging world, untouched by the events that are going on outside, where the male clients come to escape from the realities of their existence, to smoke opium, socialise, play drinking games and visit their flower girls. The whole film is like a dream, but it is a heart-rending dream in which the women are imprisoned and from which they, one day, wish to escape. Each frame is exquisitely beautiful and the whole effect of this film is to draw you in into this illusory world where time seems to stand still. One gets the feeling that Hou Xiao Xian's visual style and use of camerawork has matured somewhat from his earlier films, as here it is more assured and confident and he has produced a poignant and beautiful work of art. Certainly one of the best films I have seen in recent years, I would recommend this film to anyone who loves film or who simply wants to have an insight into this fascinating and complex culture.