THE WILD, WILD ROSE (YE MEI GUI ZHI LIAN)
Director: Wong Tin-lam. 134 minutes. HONG KONG. 1960. Language: Chinese mandarin. b&w. 4K restoration
Presented with the support of the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
The screening will be introduced by Professor Chris Berry.
BOOK TICKETS
IFI DUBLIN
One of the finest films in the history of Hong Kong cinema, a musical noir where cigarette smoke becomes a character itself. Director Wong Tin-lam’s expressionistic sets and high-contrast black-and-white cinematography, combined with a sophisticated use of music, revives the 1940s-50s songstress films with a modern edge. Jazz, blues and Western opera are woven into popular songs by Japanese composer Hattori R. Grace Chang stars as the tempestuous nightclub singer nicknamed ‘Wild Rose’ who seduces a pianist, falling fatally in love. Her sensual rendition of a song adapted from Bizet’s Carmen still mesmerizes.
(Notes: Hong Kong Film Archive)
