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Rating:  -
Without repeating other comments here, Kaige's Temptress Moon offers much more than merely a meditation. It serves as an allegory of society in flux. Early in the 20th century China was buffeted by economic and social forces that are represented well here. The street scenes of Shanghai where automobiles, streetcars, and rickshaws jostle can be seen as representing the strains of an emerging modernity on China, while the Pang family's wrenching over the loss of the family's head, followed by Ruyi's angst over her role and place in the family and society at large, represent the strains of change. The opium is real and allegorical, and Kaige's message regarding the supposed advantages of western influences is plain to anyone who wishes to see them. Finally, Temptress Moon clearly the equal to if not superior to Farewell My Concubine.
Rating: -
Chen Kaige creates another period masterpiece with TEMPTRESS MOON, the story of a wealthy family struggling to maintain their history on the outskirts of Shanghai.
Due to her brother's condition resulting from an addiction to opium (or so we're lead to believe), Ruyi (the ever glowing Gong Li) is granted leadership over the family fortune at a time when women were relegated to secondary roles. However, Zhongliang -- a close relation now grown up and playing a con man to perfection in Shanghai -- returns home to bilk her out of the family fortune at the demand of his boss. When Zhongliang discovers he has fallen in love with her, he chooses to alter her fate ... but his choice only secures his own fate in the eyes of the triad he serves.
MOON is wonderfully photographed, though this image transfer is a bit grainy at times. It is a contemporary 'Romeo & Juliet,' with gangland influences and wonderful period photography. The lovemaking -- while pushing the boundaries in a mainstream foreign release -- is relatively tame but beautiful captured with powerful emotion and vivid lighting. At points, the film feels almost like a narrative valentine to the family and the viewer; but don't look for any happy ending here.
The ending poses a small handful of tight flashbacks that gives new meaning to some of the events depicted in the film, defining more greatly the motivations of the main characters, once again demonstrating how meaningful small decisions are in the pursuit of daily life and how tragic their consequences may inevitably be in the day, months, and years ahead.
While it arguably may be a bit hard to follow at times, TEMPTRESS MOON nonetheless delivers as a truly spectacular, moving experience that should not be missed.
Rating:  -
This 1996 Chinese film is set in the sophisticated Shanghai of 1920 as well as the surrounding area. It is a fascinating drama including opium smoking, love, lust and revenge. There's a beautiful young woman, who has been raised to prepare opium for her father and brother. As her brother is paralyzed, she inherits the family home but despite her wealth, she is unhappy. A distant male cousin serves her and falls in love with her. But she falls in love with her sister-in-law's younger brother who has fled the household years ago because of a shameful secret and now makes his living romancing and blackmailing wealthy women in Shanghai. The plot thickens.
Sound complicated? Well, it is. But that didn't stop me from watching the story unfold in spite of the farfetched plot. The scenery was beautiful. The acting was excellent. And the location was exotic. And so I relaxed and just enjoyed the film. Recommended.
Rating: -
Set in China during the 1920s, Temptress Moon is a brooding Gothic tale about innocence corrupted, love betrayed and the collision of traditional Chinese culture with modern Western ways, played out as an elaborate 'battle of the sexes'. The film's concept is almost as ambitious as that of its predecessor, Farewell My Concubine, but where Farewell My Concubine succeeded brilliantly in communicating both its personal and political aspects, Temptress Moon tends to get stuck in its own convoluted story line and repeated viewing is required to be able to fully appreciate it. Nevertheless, those patient enough to do so will be richly rewarded as this is a masterpiece in disguise, not least due to its stunning photography and the three lead actors' brilliant performances.
Following the death of their parents, 13-year old Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung) is invited to live with his older sister and her husband, the heir of the wealthy Pang family, in their sprawling country mansion. He soon finds himself in the position of a virtual slave who has to wait on them hand and foot. When his brother-in-law tries to force him into an incestuous relationship with his sister, he poisons him and flees to Shanghai where he becomes a gigolo who makes his living off sleeping with married women and then blackmailing them. Meanwhile, the head of the Pang family has died and since the heir has been reduced to a vegetable by Zhongliang's poisoning attempt, his sister Ruyi (Gong Li) becomes head of the family in his place. Since she is only a 'weak' woman, her distant relative Duanwu (Kevin Lin) is appointed to be her servant in order to aid and effectively control her. Duanwu is, however, besotted with Ruyi and when she seizes control of the family's fortunes in an unexpectedly assertive way, he supports her 'shocking' actions, bravely facing the family elders' wrath. His hopes are dashed, however, when Zhongliang, by order of the triad boss he works for, returns to the Pang mansion and sets out to seduce the innocent (but very willing) Ruyi in order to lure her back to Shanghai with him. The cynical gigolo plays to her rebellious nature by educating her in Western culture but soon, to his horror, finds himself falling in love with her. Panicking, he tries to extricate himself from the web of deceit he has woven but it is too late and tragedy ensues.
Temptress Moon is one of the few films that allowed tragic Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung (Farewell My Concubine, A Chinese Ghost Story, Happy Together) to display the full range of his impressive acting skills. He plays the doomed and damaged Zhongliang with disturbing intensity, from the dashing gigolo who is so full of hate that he won't allow himself to feel any emotions to the tormented young man who, when he finally does fall in love, is forced to confront his inner demons and is destroyed by it. He shines even in the smallest scenes, like when he slouches at a dancehall table and tries to seduce a young girl into dancing with him but then abandons the idea when he realises that she is crying. Without saying a single word he conveys a wealth of conflicting emotions that most other actors wouldn't be able to express if they had so many lines of dialogue to help them along. It is a pity that many people still seem to be unable to see past his 'pretty face' and realise what an exceptional actor he was underneath. As for the others, the great Gong Li is excellent as always in her poetic portrayal of the innocent but spirited Ruyi who tries to find her way in a hostile and oppressive environment and Kevin Lin gives a superb performance as the naïve Duanwu who, through betrayal and humiliation, turns from loyal and devoted servant into a devious brute.
Rating: -
Gorgeous, decadent, sensual, at times psychologically incoherent, Kaige Chen's "Temptress Moon" is nothing if not always fascinating to watch because at the very center of this film, at it's core, is a story about family, desire and the things we do to each other in the name of love.
Set mostly in Shanghai in the 1920's when China was opening up to the world outside of it's borders, it is reminiscent of Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor," in it's surface beauty and rich, idle, beautiful characters: Zhonglaing (Leslie Cheung), a gigolo and his cousin Ruyi (the incandescent Gong-Li) a recent heiress. Chen is a director who is more interested in showing than telling and his images are so dynamic and surprising that they smack you in the gut.
"Temptress Moon" is a film of uncommon grace and beauty, more of a tone poem than a symphony perhaps but always deserving of your time and attention.
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