Final Rating: 4/5
One of the members of the Hong Kong new wave, Tsui Hark, is well-known for his martial arts films, including his 1991 classic Once Upon a Time in China. Hark made a number of his films during the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema, a period of diversity in genre, filmmaking voices, and a surge in productions.
One of those films is the cult classic Shanghai Blues, which received a 4K restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata and supervision from the original negatives by the director. Also, One Cool Sound, the major recording studio from Hong Kong, remixed the original soundtrack. This version of the film had its world premiere at the 2024 Festival de Cannes in the Cannes Classics section, and it is now in theaters.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, more specifically in 1937, the Japanese raided Shanghai, destroying multiple parts of the city. Escaping from the attacks, a clown, Tung (Kenny Bee), and a young woman, Shu (Sylvia Chang), encounter a bridge to protect themselves from the raids. He feels the necessity of enlisting in the Chinese army and defending his country during the conflict. Then, he promises her to meet her when the war is finally over.
Ten years later, Shu becomes a showgirl in one of the principal nightclubs of the city, and he returns home from the battlefields. Meanwhile, Stool (Sally Yeh) moves to Shanghai, looking to encounter her relatives; however, they have moved from their home, becoming homeless in the metropolis. Shu thinks she is committing suicide and helps her, offering her a place to stay, and they become friends, trying to survive in the madness of a growing town.
Veteran director Hark creates a chaotic universe in a growing venue. In 1940’s Shanghai, the population suffered from the price hikes of rice, the devaluation of the local currency compared to the American Dollar, and the high costs of living. In this sense, the screenplay by John Chan and To Kwok Wai sets the three main characters united by the difficulty of living in that place. They live in a worn-out apartment, rats are constantly present in the building, and water is not available to them.
Stool mourns the robbery of her money by a thief in the streets. Money is not only essential to survival but also a tool to permeate society. Besides the difficulty of feeding themselves and having a roof, they have to put their dreams aside, especially Tung, a musician who dreams of writing music.
The most noteworthy element of the film is extracting humor from the daily disgrace. The lack of food, the poor conditions of the housing, and the abuses in the dressing room of the nightclub. Each of the inadequate living conditions is a setup for plenty of jokes in Chan and Kwok Wai’s script, which provides enough material for the central trio to work with. Bee, Chang, and Yeh have magnificent chemistry and deliver a crucial aspect to a romantic comedy: a functioning throuple, which gives enough space for the two different couples to develop their own stories.
Shu and Tung do not recognize each other from the bridge, but their passion has more unique desires from the situations they live together. In this sense, the script prevents obvious interactions between them, and each moment is a funny and sweet conversation.
Ultimately, Tsui Hark paints a dreamy, romantic, and confused adventure in 1940’s Shanghai. Precisely like the local economy, his main characters are confused and do not have the best perspectives for their futures. However, the Hong Kong master uses the musical background as an inspiration to conduct an enlightened trio in a comedy that utilizes the problematic past to explore the romance and dreams of those surviving the hard times in the metropolis.
Thank you to Film Movement Classics and Foundry Communications for the screener.
