Main Cast: Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Man Chi Leung, Emily Chu
Release Year: 1988
Country: HK
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Kwan directs this stunning supernatural melodrama about a passion, romance, and lost history. Fleur (Anita Mui) is a 1930s high-class courtesan who finds herself sucked into a doomed relationship with Twelfth Master Chan Chen-Pang (Leslie Cheung), the rakish scion of a prosperous business family that disapproves of their union. After a brief but intense courtship, the two resolve to be together in the afterworld by swallowing opium. Yet once there, Fleur discovers that she is alone. After waiting 50 years for her dearly beloved, she re-emerges in 1987 to place a personal ad. In the process, she enlists the aid of a pair of journalists: Yuen (Alex Man) and his feisty, occasionally jealous girlfriend Ah Chor (Emily Chu). Fleur learns that the Hong Kong she knew has by and large disappeared: the brothel where she worked was now a kindergarten. As she tells them of her love for Twelfth Master, the two journalists begin to find their relationship intensifying. As Fleur's spirit grows weaker, their search continues until it yields results that are both sad and ironic. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Review
At a time when Hong Kong ghost stories entailed cheesy dry ice effects and flying somersaults, Rouge recast these tired conventions into a poignant, touching work that artfully mixed realism with fantasy and tradition with modernity. Stanley Kwan used an inventive double storyline that switches between Hong Kong in the 1930s and Hong Kong in 1980s to explore themes of identity, history, and narrative. The two Hong Kongs are seen as both visually and culturally irreconcilable. The city of the 1930s is beautifully decadent yet hidebound to tradition, romantic yet cruel, while the Hong Kong of the 1980s is portrayed as neon-drenched, fast-paced, and empty. Their only common denominator is the presence of Fleur, a fading ghost from a more opulent era. Context and style aside, Rouge is a compelling, touching film that proved to be one of Hong Kong's most financially and artistically successful films. Pop star Anita Mui rocketed to film fame on the strength of her sensitive, modulated performance, while Leslie Cheung solidified his claim as one of Hong Kong's foremost leading men. Yet it was Kwan's masterful control of tone and mood that seemed to strike a chord with domestic audiences. Rouge was made after Britain announced that it would hand over Hong Kong to mainland China, and the film's popularity perhaps spoke to a desire to make sense of the past to gain a greater understanding of Hong Kong's uncertain future. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Chan Chen-Pang, better known as the "12th Young Master" (played by Leslie Cheung), was a fashionable playboy who frequented the opium dens prevalent in Hong Kong in 1934, where he met the high-class and much sought-after courtesan, Fleur (Anita Mui).
They began a passionate love affair, something frowned upon by the family of 12th Master, who held sway over the business of the area. Clearly, their love was doomed when it was found out. Seeing no way to pursue their love in life, on March 8 at 11pm, the couple resolved to commit suicide together by swallowing opium, and promise to meet again in the afterlife. After waiting for Chan in hell for 50 years, Fleur returns to the world of the living to look for him, wondering why he has not emerged. A spirit now, she searches for her lover in a Hong Kong she no longer recognizes. She decides to place a newspaper advertisement seeking Chan (using the code "3811", to indicate the eighth day of the third month at eleven pm, the time of their suicide), and enlists the assistance of Yuen (Alex Man) and his understandably suspicious girlfriend, Chor (Emily Chu).
Fleur did find her lover in the end, but she was surprised, dismayed and felt cheated, as Chen-Pang did not die in the suicide pact. How he survived the suicide attempt was not explained, but Fleur seemed to have understood that he had not been entirely honest on his part. Not surprisingly, due to his wayward and flirtatious nature, he was reduced to poverty where he lived to be an old and forgotten man well into his late 70s, making a living as a Chinese opera stand-in and living in the cramped quarters of the opera set itself. Recognising Fleur instantly, he begged her for her forgiveness but his pleas fell on deaf ears. As she drifted effortlessly away, Fleur realised that he had indeed suffered much more than she had, as his guilty conscience haunted him for so many years. She returned the rouge case he gave her 50 years ago. Retribution has been paid in kind and she was content to leave as the living world is no longer her home.
1989 Hong Kong Film Awards: Best Actress (Anita Mui), Best Director (Stanley Kwan), Best Film Editing, Best Original Film Score, Best Original Film Song ("Yin Ji Kau"), Best Picture
The film title Rouge refers to the cosmetic, which was a red strip used to colour the lips before the advent of the lipstick; Fleur was shown using it at various times during the film. When they first met, 12th Master gave her a case of rouge as a love token,she returned it when she finally met him again 50 years later.
Chan Chen-Pang isn't actually the 12th child of his father, but the second. "12th Master" is used to keep him safe from harm because his elder brother (1st Master) is dead and Chan Chen-Pang is therefore the heir to the family fortune. If the family has angered the spirits, or are unlucky, the second child could be the next to die.
The role of Chan Chen-Pang was actually relatively minor in the book, but as Lilian Lee, the author and one of the scriptwriters, is very fond of Leslie, she decided to add more scenes for Chan.
