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 brilliant criminal specializing in blackmail is about to seduce China's most powerful woman.

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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

A very impressive movie with great story.

Such a good movie with great plot and impressive visuality. Each shot is like a photograph and very beautiful, too. Story of Chinese traditions and a fervid love triangle. This is a movie of strong characters against tradition and each other and love. Gong Li and Leslie Cheung are among my favorite actors and actresses and they become a magical couple in the same movie. A must see...