Flowers of Shanghai

Flowers of Shanghai is a 1998 Taiwanese drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It is based on the novel The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai (1892) by Han Bangqing, which was originally written in the Wu language and translated into Mandarin Chinese by Eileen Chang. The film stars Tony Leung as a wealthy patron and Hada Michiko, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Shuan Fang, Jack Kao, Carina Lau, Rebecca Pan, Michelle Reis, and Vicky Wei as "flower girls" in four high-end Shanghai brothels. It was voted the third best film of the 1990s in the Village Voice Film Poll conducted in 1999. The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards. Plot The film is set in the elegant brothels of Shanghai, called Changsan Shuyu (; "Flower Houses"), in 1884. The story is about the courtesans in these houses, known as "shi sen" or "flower girls," who are top-notch prostitutes, depicting in great detail their relationships with the wealthy patrons, which are semi-monogamous and often last for a long period of time, and the daily activities in the houses. The main courtesans in the film are Crimson, Jasmin, Jade, Pearl and Emerald. Crimson belongs to the Huifang Enclave, while Jasmin works at the East Hexing Enclave. Jade and her friend Pearl work in the Gongyang Enclave, and Emerald resides in the Shangren Enclave. The film explores the relationships between the wealthy patrons and the courtesans. Master Wang leaves the courtesan Crimson at the end of their two-and-a-half-year relationship after he is refused her hand in marriage. He falls for the younger courtesan Jasmin, angering Crimson. However, Master Wang still has feelings for Crimson. When he finds out she is having an affair with an actor, he launches into a drunken rage. He agrees to marry Jasmin and departs for Guangdong after receiving a promotion. It is later revealed in conversation between other characters that Jasmin had an affair with Wang's nephew.