Rouge (film)

(Redirected from Rouge (movie))

Rouge (Chinese: 胭脂扣; Jyutping: Jin1zi1 kau3) is a 1988 Hong Kong supernatural romantic-drama film, directed by Stanley Kwan and starring Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung. The film is the adaptation of a novel with the same title by Lilian Lee.

Rouge
Film poster
Chinese胭脂扣
Hanyu PinyinYānzhī kòu
Yale RomanizationYìnjì kau
JyutpingJin1zi1 kau3
Directed byStanley Kwan
Written byYau Tai Ping On
Lilian Lee Pik Wah
Produced byJackie Chan
Leonard Ho
StarringAnita Mui
Leslie Cheung
CinematographyBill Wong
Edited byPeter Cheung
Music byMichael Lai
Tang Siu Lam
Production
companies
Golden Harvest
Golden Way Films
Release dates
  • 5 December 1988 (1988-12-05) (Taiwan)
  • 7 January 1988 (1988-01-07) (Hong Kong)
Running time
96 min / USA:93 min
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK$17,476,414

Plot

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In 1987 Hong Kong, newspaperman Yuen and his girlfriend, Chor are drawn into a doomed 1930s romance when the ghost of courtesan Fleur publishes an advertisement in the newspapers, looking for her lost lover Chan Chen-Pang. She has waited in the afterlife for Chan for 53 years and believes he has become lost.

Chan was the playboy son of a wealthy family, but longed to be an actor, met and fell in love with talented, beautiful Fleur in one of Hong Kong's teahouses. Realising their romance would never be accepted, the couple committed suicide by opium overdose in order to be together in the afterlife.

Pragmatic Yuen and Chor become dazzled by the romance of Fleur's story and the ghost's glamorous beauty, but as their search for Chan reveals the truth - that Chan did not die with Fleur, frittered away his inheritance and now lives impoverished as a movie extra - they see the value of their own, honest relationship.

The title refers to a rouge case Chan gave to Fleur, which she returns to the now-elderly, guilt-wracked man, before leaving the living world.

Cast

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Release

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The film received a Region 1 Criterion Collection home video release in 2022.[1]

Awards

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Notes
1988 Torino International Festival of Young Cinema International Feature Film Competition Special Mention [citation needed]
Nantes Three Continents Festival Grand Prix Won [2]
24th Golden Horse Awards Best Leading Actress Anita Mui Won
Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best Actress [citation needed]
1989 8th Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film Golden Way Films Ltd./Golden Harvest Films Won
Director Stanley Kwan Won
Best Actress Anita Mui Won
Best Film Editing Peter Cheung Won
Best Original Film Score Lai Siu-Tin Won
Best Original Film Song "Yin Ji Kau" Won

References

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  1. ^ Cole, Jake (15 July 2022). "'Rouge' Blu-ray Review: The Criterion Collection". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Festival 1988". Festival des 3 Continents. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
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