July 12, 2009
Multiple viewings in a theater setting MIGHT get this more stars. ... could also induce suicide.
Annie Shizuka Inoh, Carina Lau, Jack Kao
Shanghai, the 1880s, four elegant brothels (flower houses): each has an auntie (the madam), a courtesan in her prime, older servants, and maturing girls in training. The men gather around tables of fo...( read more
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DVD Release Date: August 14, 2001
Stats: 65 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (65)
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July 10, 2009moving very slowly from one blackout scene to the next, beautifully shot in the candlelit rooms of various brothels of the 19th century, flowers of shanghai explores the intrigues of 'flower girls' or courtesans, sold as children into a life little better than slavery. there's a...( read more)
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June 6, 2008Hou perhaps reached his aesthetic extreme with the one take per scene approach here, which I loved. The opening scene is simply breathtaking. The film almost feels like a play with the entire running time taking place inside. Almost all the major action in the film takes place of...( read more)
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October 24, 2006Hou Hsiao Hsien's play-like story of a famed brothel (Flower House) in Shanghai is a study of manners in late 19-century China. Sublimely restrained in parts, the opening sequences introducing each courtesan (flower girl) is exquisite and captivating... but I have to admit that I...( read more)
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July 5, 2009oh...i muz tell, i cant even imagine how i finished this!! i got no idea what's it wants to tell..it's my problem, of course
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April 27, 2009something like documentary only,,, so better not watch it if u hoped to see something like memoirs of geisha
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June 28, 2007Hou Hsiao-hsien's masterpiece. Mesmerizing, entrancing and totally unforgettable. Taiwanese cinema reached a zenith in the 90s and HHH remains at the forefront.
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June 26, 2007They say you can't grow flowers in Shanghai...
(Final Fantasy VII reference) -
June 10, 2007The story of a brothel of another era when johns fell in love with the prostitutes and bought them out of indentured servanthood from the pimps.
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