Member chazgower01 Posted May 6, 2019 Member Share Posted May 6, 2019 Peking Opera Blues (Hong Kong, 1986) dvd 4/5 Still not convinced this is as great as some make it out to be, it is still an important and fun piece of work that ranks up there with Tsui Hark's best (For the record: I LOVE Sally Yeh and Hark's 'Shanghai Blues' is one of my favorite Hong Kong movies). It mixes politics with comedy and action, while letting three female leads effectively dictate all of the events of the movie. All of this while incorporating Peking Opera and the Tsui Hark method of movie mayhem. It's not that any of this hasn't been done before - it's just that he crams it ALL into one movie and somehow ties it all together. The ending... is a problem to me (the rooftop ending I mean), as it just didn't... you suspend a great deal of belief at times in this movie, sort of hoping the ending gives a LITTLE more grounding, but... Brigette Lin is a rebel, but also the daughter, dressed as a boy (to more effectively get around) of a ruling general. Sally Yeh is the daughter of a Peking Opera boss that berates her for TRYING to be in the show ("Only men can be women!), and Cherie Chung is a street thief trying to recover her stolen jewelry. In theory, each of these is supposed to represent a different aspect of China from the time (1920's), but for me the fun is just in how they interact with each other. Even though we get a couple of guys who help out - their role is strictly as sidekicks. It's all about the three female leads. Which leads to a lot of Tsui Hark madcap fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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