Back by Popular Demand! Director’s Cut!

Chen Kaige’s legendary Chinese arthouse hit was never properly seen here in North American cinemas, as its distributor (the notorious Miramax) shaved about 15 minutes from its runtime resulting in a version of the film that, while still beautiful and compelling, lacked some of the intended narrative heft and complexity. Leslie Cheung and Fengyi Zhang play Peking Opera stars who become enmeshed in a love triangle when one falls in love with the other and a beautiful courtesan (Gong Li) also enters the picture. 

“Appropriately operatic, Chen’s visually spectacular epic is sumptuous in every respect. Intelligent, enthralling, rhapsodic.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Double Feature with SUZHOU RIVER