Yuen Ling-yuk (1992)

Director:

Stanley Kwan

Writer:

Tai An-Ping Chiu (writer)

Release Date:

20 February 1992 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Biopic of 1930's Chinese actress Ruan Ling Yu. |

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Maggie Cheung	...	Ruan Ling-yu and Herself
Han Chin	...	Tang Chi-Shan
Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Tsai Chu-sheng / Himself
Carina Lau	...	Lily Li / Herself
Waise Lee	...	Li Min-wei
Li-li Li	...	Herself (as Lily Li)
Lawrence Ng	...	Chang Ta-Min
Cecilia Yip	...	Lin Chu-Chu
Kelvin Wong	...	Nier Erh
San Yip	...	Ms Liu
Paul Chang	...	Boss of Lianhua
Yanyan Chen	...	Herself - Interview
Lingyu Ruan	...	Herself (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Kwan	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Center Stage (Hong Kong: English title)
Centre Stage (Australia)
Ruan Lingyu (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
The Actress
The New China Woman

Runtime:

Australia:126 min | Hong Kong:147 min (director's cut) | Hong Kong:118 min (edited version) | Hong Kong:154 min (restored DVD version)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:18 | France:U

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Golden Way Films Ltd.

Trivia:

With her win for Best Actress at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival, Maggie Cheung became the first Chinese actor to win a major European film award.

Movie Connections:

References Tao hua qi xue ji (1931)

Classic story of patriarchal double standard

A biopic of Chinese silent film actress from the 30's, Ruan Lingyu, with Maggie Cheung as Ruan. This movie tells the sad story of a young woman who is rescued from poverty by show business, and is subsequently destroyed by it. It's a classic story of the patriarchal double standard in which an adulterous woman is punished by society while an adulterous man is not.

Maggie Cheung's performance is quite good. First of all, she pulls off being an actress playing an actress who is very immersed in her work.

Everyone in this movie is exceedingly composed - they speak carefully, and walk perpetually as if on eggshells. No one really comes alive until a scene at a dance hall near the end. But despite all the sugary politeness, Cheung successfully conveys a woman who is being slowly destroyed by her oppressive environment. And there are a couple scenes in which she completely loses it, and it's very affecting to watch.

The movie is very interestingly interspersed with clips from Ruan's movies, documentary footage of Ruan's surviving contemporaries, and the actors' conversations with the director.

The other actors, such as Tony Leung Ka Fai, Carina Lau, and Waise Lee, who are so interesting in other movies, all have little to nothing to do, except to look nice in period costume.

Also interesting is the fact that Carina Lau (who plays fellow actress Lily Li) looks much more like the real Ruan Lingyu than Maggie Cheung does.

Watching this film is a bit like watching a PBS documentary - edifying, educational, but not exactly fun.