''Center Stage'' (), also known as ''Actress'' and ''Yuen Ling-yuk'', is a 1991

Hong Kong film The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of pol ...

, directed by

Stanley Kwan Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. Kwan landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist College. ...

. Maggie Cheung won Best Actress award at

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

in 1992 for her delicate portraiture of

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

star

Ruan Lingyu Ruan Lingyu (born Ruan Fenggen; April 26, 1910 – March 8, 1935), also known by her English name Lily Yuen, was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her exceptional acting ability and suicid ...

Plot

The film is based on a true story: the tragic life of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

's first prima donna of the silver screen,

. This movie chronicles her rise to fame as a

movie actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

during the 1930s. Nicknamed the "Chinese Garbo,"

began her acting career when she was 16 years old and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

at age 24. The film alternates between present scenes (production talks between director Kwan, Cheung, and co-star

Carina Lau Carina Lau Kar-ling (, born 8 December 1966) is a Hong Kong-Canadian actress and singer. She started her acting career in TVB, before going on to achieve success in films after 2nd year at the college. She was notable in the 1980s for her girl-ne ...

, interviews of witnesses who knew Ruan), re-creation scenes with Cheung (as Ruan, acting inside this movie), and extracts from Ruan's original films including her final two films '' The Goddess'' and '' New Women''.

Cast

Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and i ...

* Chin Han as

Tang Jishan Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

Lawrence Ng Lawrence Ng Kai-wah (, ; born 19 May 1964) is a popular TV actor in Hong Kong. His more famous works include the television series '' Healing Hands'' and the films '' Fate Twisters'' and ''Sex and Zen''. Ng's older brother is former Charlie ...

Zhang Damin Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ...

Tony Leung Ka-fai Tony Leung Ka-fai (; born 1 February 1958) is a Hong Kong actor who is a four-time winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. As he is often confused with actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tony Leung Ka-fai is known as "Big Tony," while Tony Le ...

Cai Chusheng Cai Chusheng (January 12, 1906 – July 15, 1968) was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era, and was the first Chinese director to win an international film award at the Moscow International Film Festival. Best known for his progres ...

Li Lili Li Lili (; 2 June 1915 – 7 August 2005) was a Chinese film actress and singer. Her films '' Playthings'', '' The Great Road'' and ''Storm on the Border'' were blockbusters of the 1930s and 1940s.Elaine DuanTop 10 legendary Chinese women in th ...

* Cecilia Yip as

Lim Cho Cho Florence Lim (21 January 1905 – 16 February 1979), better known as Lim Cho-cho, was a Chinese Canadian actress in the cinema of the Republic of China and British Hong Kong from 1925 to 1954. She was the second wife of filmmaker Lai Man-Wai and t ...

Waise Lee Waise Lee Chi-hung (born 19 December 1959) is a Hong Kong film and television actor best known for playing the roles of villains and antagonists in various films. Biography Lee graduated from TVB's Artist Training Academy in 1982 and was from the ...

as Lai Man-Wai *Paul Chang Chung as

Luo Mingyou Lo Ming-yau (1900–1967) or Luo Mingyou was a Hong Kong entrepreneur and filmmaker, and a pioneer of Chinese cinema. His uncle Lo Wen-kan (羅文榦, Luo Wengan) was a major politician during the early Republican period. Lo Ming-yau founded the ...

*Hsiao Hsiang as He Aying (Ruan's mother) *Maryanna Yip as Lai Cheuk-Cheuk *

Yumiko Cheng Yumiko Cheng (born 6 September 1981) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Cheng was given the Japanese nickname "Yumiko" by her friends in secondary school, and upon signing with EEG, adopted it as her official stagename.Tran, JennyYumi ...

as Child actress *Fu Chong as

Nie Er Nie Er (14 February 1912 – 17 July 1935), born Nie Shouxin, courtesy name Ziyi (子義 or 子藝), was a Chinese composer best known for "March of the Volunteers", the national anthem of People's Republic of China. In numerous Shanghai magaz ...

*Xue Guoping as

Jin Yan Jin Yan (; April 7, 1910 – December 27, 1983), also known by his English name Raymond King, was a Korean-born Chinese actor who gained fame during China's golden age of cinema, based in Shanghai. His acting talents and good looks gained hi ...

*Sun Dongguang as Sun Yu *Xiao Rongsheng as

Wu Yonggang Wu Yonggang (November 1, 1907 – December 18, 1982) was a prominent Chinese film director during the 1930s. Today Wu is best known for his directorial debut, '' The Goddess''. Wu had a long career with the Lianhua Film Company in the 1930s, in ...

*Zheng Dali as

Zheng Junli Zheng Junli (December 6, 1911 – April 23, 1969) was a Chinese actor and director born in Shanghai and who rose to prominence in the golden age of Chinese Cinema. His films '' The Spring River Flows East'' and '' Crows and Sparrows'' are widel ...

Zhou Jie Zhou may refer to: Chinese history * King Zhou of Shang () (1105 BC–1046 BC), the last king of the Shang dynasty * Predynastic Zhou (), 11th-century BC precursor to the Zhou dynasty * Zhou dynasty () (1046 BC–256 BC), a dynasty of China ** West ...

Liu Qiong Liu Qiong (16 October 1913 – 28 April 2002) was a Chinese film director and actor. Selected filmography As director * '' A Fishing Girl Singer'' (1983) * ''Ashima'' (1964) * '' Military Depot No. 51'' (1961) * '' Master Qiao Mounts the Sed ...

*Huang Daliang as Wu Chengyu *Claude Monges as Mr. Skinner *Carrie Lanese as Mrs. Skinner Two actors are the sons of their characters: Sun Dongguang is the son of director Sun Yu, and Zheng Dali is the son of actor

Music

The theme song "Zangxin" (; "Burying the Heart") was composed by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Johnny Chen and recorded by Taiwanese singer

Tracy Huang Tracy Huang (; born 29 August 1951) is a Taiwanese singer. Huang began her career in music with the Thunderbird Choir, alongside Su Rui. After she left the group, Huang spent two years in Taichung, at an American military base, where she learn ...

. It won Best Original Film Song at the

12th Hong Kong Film Awards The 12th Hong Kong Awards ceremony, honored the best films of 1992 and took place on 23 April 1993 at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrat ...

. The film also contains a scene in which

Lianhua Film Company The United Photoplay Service Company () was one of the three dominant production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other two being the Mingxing Film Company and the Tianyi Film Company, the forerunner of the Hong Kong-based ...

actors sang the "Dalu Ge" (; "The Big Road Song") composed by

, which would become the theme song for Sun Yu's 1934 anti-Japanese film ''

The Big Road ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''.

Reception

Awards

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is u ...

, 1991 **Best Leading Actress - Maggie Cheung **Best Cinematography - Poon Hang Sang **Best Feature Film (nominated) **Best Director - Stanley Kwan (nominated) *

42nd Berlin International Film Festival The 42nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1992. The festival opened with '' The Inner Circle'' by Andrei Konchalovsky. The Golden Bear was awarded to American film ''Grand Canyon'' directed by Lawrence Ka ...

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

- Maggie Cheung *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, 1992 **

Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...

- Maggie Cheung * 1993 Hong Kong Film Awards **Best Actress - Maggie Cheung **Best Cinematography - Poon Hang Sang **Best Art Direction - Pok Yuk Mok **Best Original Film Score - Johnny Chen **Best Original Film Song - Johnny Chen

Recognition

Prominent

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

Jonathan Rosenbaum picked the film as his favorite of the 1990s. Center Stage at chinesemov.com
/ref>

References

External links

* *
''Center Stage'' Synopsis at 3continents.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Center Stage (1991 film) 1990s Cantonese-language films 1990s Mandarin-language films 1992 films 1990s biographical drama films Hong Kong biographical drama films Films set in Shanghai Films directed by Stanley Kwan 1991 drama films 1991 films 1992 drama films Biographical films about actors 1990s Hong Kong films