''Center Stage'' ( zh, c=阮玲玉, p=Ruǎn Língyù, cy=yun5 ling4 yuk6, j=jyun5 ling4 juk6), also known as ''Actress'' and ''Yuen Ling-yuk'', is a 1991 Hong Kong biographical drama film directed by Stanley Kwan. It follows the life and career of

silent film A silent film is a film without 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 ...

actress Ruan Lingyu (1910–1935), portrayed by Maggie Cheung. Cheung won Best Actress at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

in 1992 for her performance.

Plot summary

The film is based on a true story: the tragic life of China's first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu. This movie chronicles her rise to fame as a movie actress in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

during the 1930s. Nicknamed the "Chinese Garbo," Ruan Lingyu began her acting career when she was 16 and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

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

Carina Lau Carina Lau Kar-ling ( zh, t=劉嘉玲; born 8 December 1965) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She started her acting career at TVB, before achieving success with her Girl next door, girl-next-door roles in the 1980s' Hong Kong films. She also pl ...

, 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'' (1934) and '' New Women'' (1935).

Cast

* Maggie Cheung as Ruan Lingyu * Chin Han as Tang Jishan * Tony Leung Ka-fai as Cai Chusheng * Lawrence Ng as Zhang Damin *

as Li Lili * Cecilia Yip as Lim Cho Cho * Waise Lee as

Lai Man-Wai Lai Man-wai (; September 25, 1893 – October 26, 1953), also romanised as Lay Min-wei or M.W. Ray, considered the "Father of Hong Kong Cinema", was the director of the first Hong Kong film '' Zhuangzi Tests His Wife'' in 1913. In the film, Lai ...

*Paul Chang Chung as Luo Mingyou *Hsiao Hsiang as He Aying (Ruan's mother) *Maryanna Yip as Lai Cheuk-Cheuk * Yumiko Cheng as Child actress *Fu Chong as Nie Er *Xue Guoping as Jin Yan *Sun Dongguang as Sun Yu *Xiao Rongsheng as Wu Yonggang *Zheng Dali as Zheng Junli * Zhou Jie as Liu Qiong *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 Zheng Junli.

Music

The theme song "Zangxin" ( zh, t=葬心, labels=no; "Burying the Heart") was composed by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Johnny Chen and recorded by Taiwanese singer Tracy Huang. It won Best Original Film Song at the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards. 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–ba ...

actors sang the "Dalu Ge" ( zh, t=大路歌, labels=no; "The Big Road Song") composed by Nie Er, which would become the theme song for Sun Yu's 1934 anti-Japanese film '' The Big Road''.

Reception

Awards

* 28th Golden Horse Awards, 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, 1992 ** Silver Bear for Best Actress – Maggie Cheung * Chicago International Film Festival, 1992 ** Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress – Maggie Cheung * 12th Hong Kong Film Awards, 1993 **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

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: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...

picked the film as one of his favorites of the 1990s. Center Stage at chinesemov.com
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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