''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
*
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 ...
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
/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