The retrospective "Glory Days: When Leslie Met Anita" presented by the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department several months ago was well received by the audience. To revisit the glory days of superstars Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, the HKFA has selected seven movies from the series to have encore screenings at North District Town Hall from September 28 to October 1.
"Rouge" (1988), the only film co-starring Cheung and Mui as leads, will once again be the first movie shown. Directed by Stanley Kwan, the film tells of the romance between famous courtesan Fleur and wealthy playboy Pang in the 1930s. The film won various prizes at film awards and festivals. The screening will include a three-minute music montage specially edited from a rarely seen international cut.
Both iconic figures in Cantopop, Cheung and Mui occasionally introduced music elements and enriched their works with their attractive voices. The musical drama "The Phantom Lover" (1995) features Cheung as a popular opera star, and the theme song composed and performed by Cheung won a Best Original Film Song nomination for the Golden Horse Awards. In "Au Revoir, Mon Amour" (1991) with the Sino-Japanese War as the story setting, Mui plays a songstress who guards her beloved regardless of the unstable political environment. The strong-willed character is consistent with Mui's own personality.
Cheung and Mui contributed to a wide range of genres in their acting careers. From their comedies, the HKFA picked the Chinese New Year screen classic "All's Well End's Well" (1992) and "Justice, My Foot!" (1992), which saw Cheung and Mui separately co-star with king of comedy Stephen Chow. Both stood on an equal footing with Chow, and the two works are among the top classics in the acting careers of Cheung and Mui. "All's Well End's Well" will be accompanied by a post-screening talk hosted by director Clifton Ko and film critic William Yuen.
Both Cheung and Mui took part in the romance movie series "He's a Woman, She's a Man" (1994) and "Who's the Woman, Who's the Man" (1996). The first film, starring Cheung and Anita Yuen, features crossed relationships and gender confusion, while in the latter film Mui joins the cast with an androgynous stage persona, making the story more complicated and daring.
All films are in Cantonese. "Au Revoir, Mon Amour" is without subtitles, while the other films are with Chinese and English subtitles.
Tickets priced at $45 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries, please call 2739 2139 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/programmesandexhibitions/2018gdwlma-ndth/index.html.