1991 Movie
Dir. Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang · Hong Kong · Cantonese, English
A unique meta narrative contemplating the performance of China’s silent film star
What would be the best medium for depicting the life and legacy of an icon? Would a biopic be best, or would the documentary do better? Well, for silent film star Ruan Lingyu, director Stanley Kwan fused both in Center Stage. It makes for a unique experience. Rather than putting Maggie Cheung through the motions, Center Stage alternates between recreating the scenes of Ruan’s life, the few fragments of her works, and what’s behind it, which was rather fitting for the way her life and work eerily coincided. Consciously recognizing the gap between depiction and reality, Kwan and Cheung refrain from overdramatizing her life’s tragedies. Instead, Center Stage focuses on her craft and the act of performing itself.
Based on the tragic true story of China's first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu, chronicling her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during the 1930s.
"The self-aware drama moves at the hypnotic pace of an elusive dream-above all, in spectacularly staged musical scenes, set in a night club, merging sinuous and languid dances with high-stakes emotional battles."
— Richard Brody
"A biopic like no other."
— Sheila O'Malley
Berlin
1 win
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
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