Maggie Cheung—one of the brightest stars of Hong Kong film’s last golden age—gives perhaps her greatest performance as Ruan Lingyu, icon of Shanghai cinema’s own 1930s heyday. In a career of just eight years, Ruan etched her way into immortality with socially-conscious work like Love and Duty, The Goddess, and New Women—achievements overshadowed at the time by a messily public love life and curtailed by her suicide at age 24, in circumstances uncannily paralleling those of her tragic screen heroines. Presented here in a new restoration of its original director’s cut, CENTER STAGE ambitiously explores Ruan’s legacy through excerpts from her surviving films and interviews with her real-life collaborators, while an all-star cast dramatizes the political, artistic, and intellectual ferment of prewar Shanghai. — Josh Martin, Features Programmer

*Single-film ticket purchases begin June 4. Virtual film screenings are only available for Texas viewers.

DIRECTOR: Stanley Kwan

WRITER: Yautai On-ping, from a story by Peggy Chiao

PRODUCERS: Tsui Siu-ming, Willie Chan

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Poon Hang-sang

EDITORS: Peter Cheung, Keung Chuen-tak, Cheung Ka-fai

MUSIC: Johnny Chen

CAST: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Chin Han, Carina Lau, Lawrence Ng, Cecilia Yip

LENGTH: 154 min

LANGUAGES: Cantonese, Mandarin, and Shanghainese with English subtitles

COUNTRY: Hong Kong | Taiwan

GENRE: Drama | Biopic

ACCOLADES / FESTIVALS

1991 Golden Horse Awards | Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Special Jury Award

1992 Berlin International Film Festival | Silver Bear for Best Actress

1992 Chicago International Film Festival | Silver Hugo for Best Actress

1993 Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Score, Best Song