Temptress Moon (1996)
"Feng yue" (original title)

Not far from Shanghai, in a country twon stands the palatial home of the Pang family. Old Master Pang is an addict who brings up his beautiful daughter Ruyi on opium smoke. Her older ... See full summary »

Director:

Kaige Chen

Writers:

Kaige Chen (story), Kei Shu,

Stars:

Leslie Cheung, Li Gong, Kevin Lin

4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Leslie Cheung	...	Yu Zhongliang
Li Gong	...	Pang Ruyi
Kevin Lin	...	Pang Duanwu
Saifei He	...	Yu Xiuyi (Zhongliang's Sister)
Shih Chang	...	Li Niangjiu
Liankun Lin	...	Pang An
Hsiang Ting Ko	...	Elder Qi
Yin Tse	...	Boss (as Xian Xie)
David Wu	...	Jingyun
Jie Zhou	...	The Woman of Zephyr Lane
Yemang Zhou	...	Pang Zhengda
Lei Ren	...	Yu Zhongliang (child)
Ying Wang	...	Pang Ruyi (child)
Lin Ge	...	Pang, Duanwu (child)

Storyline

Not far from Shanghai, in a country twon stands the palatial home of the Pang family. Old Master Pang is an addict who brings up his beautiful daughter Ruyi on opium smoke. Her older brother, Zhengda, is addicted as well, and then paralysed and effectively brain-dead. Zhongliang, Zhengda's brother-in-law, is a successful gigolo in Shanghai who seduces married older women and then blackmails them. When Older Master Pang dies, the clan elders makes Ruyi to take over the role as the head of the household. Zhongliang returns to the Pang family on the death of Old Master Pang, re-encounters Ruyi, and they are secretly attracted to each other. Wanting to seem sophisticated, she succumbs to Zhongliang's attempts to seduce her. But in the emotional maelstrom that follows - for the angry, jealous and sexually frustrated sister (Zhengda's wife) is also part of the picture...

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Plot Keywords:

opium | gigolo | brother in law | death | blackmail | 

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Taglines:

A seductive new film so provocative it was banned in its own country.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some intense images of sexuality and opium use

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax

Country:

China Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

13 June 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Temptress Moon

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$66,471 (USA) (13 June 1997)

Gross:

$1,084,532 (USA) (8 August 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shanghai Film Studios, Tomsen Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two months into shooting, Chen Kaige had to let his leading lady go and replaced her with Li Gong. This was immediately followed by a delay in filming due to bad weather. Both of these factors contributed to the budget doubling to US $4 million. Even then, the film's problems were not over - the Chinese authorities then banned the film due to its political undercurrent and explicit scenes.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Speed 2/Broken English/Ulee's Gold/Temptress Moon/Wedding Bell Blues (1997)

User Reviews

This film should get best rate because its criticism of the society

Not only the society in China decades ago, but also the current Chinese society. Again, like the movie Farewell My Concubine also directed by Mr. Kaige Chen, this film is also a work of contemporary criticism told in the form of a story happened decades ago.

Unlike the story of Farewell My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji), what reflected in this film is far too close to home: what happened more than half a century ago is happening again in China and the director was more direct in criticizing the decadence in this film.