Rouge (1987)

[Scottie]

Cantopop superstars Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung display the androgynous magnetism that made them icons as doomed lovers in this emblematic film of Hong Kong’s Second New Wave, directed by pioneering queer melodrama master Stanley Kwan. Rouge bridges past and present in its tragic romance between a humble courtesan and the wayward scion of a wealthy family, who embrace death by suicide pact amid the opulent teahouses of 1930s Hong Kong. Fifty years later, she returns to the city-state to find him, drawing a young contemporary couple (Alex Man and Emily Chu) into her quest to rekindle a passion that may be as illusory as time itself. With its lush mise-en-scène and transcendently melancholy mood, this sensuous ghost story is an exquisite, enduringly resonant elegy for both lost love and vanishing history.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

-New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Stanley Kwan, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
-Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
-New conversation between Kwan and filmmaker Sasha Chuk
-Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema, a 1997 documentary by Kwan exploring the representation of queerness and LGBT identity in Chinese film
-Still Love You After All These, a 1997 memoir film by Kwan about his Hong Kong identity
-Trailer
-New English subtitle translation

PLUS: An essay by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim

New cover by Jason Raish

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection

[DukeTogo84]

Haven't seen this, but love Anita Mui, so will probably check it out for her.

[Rizor]

Shoot, just imported the HK disc a few months ago.

Sounds good. I think the cover illustration looks a bit off though.

[drobswim13]

Day 1 for me. The cover though...meh

[filmlover22]

I hate 90% of Criterion covers. Why not just use the poster art?

[Labor_Unit001]

Good announcement. Nice to see that doc Kwan did on Queerness in Chinese Cinema included, been wanting to watch that one as well.

[yoloswegmaster420]

With this and 'Boat People', I'm happy that Criterion is releasing more titles from Hong Kong that aren't action titles.

[latehong]

Originally Posted by Labor_Unit001

Good announcement. Nice to see that doc Kwan did on Queerness in Chinese Cinema included, been wanting to watch that one as well.

The cover is underwhelming, even disturbing, for sure, but the inclusion of Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema (1997) and Still Love You After All These (1997) might make this release one of the year's best for me.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by latehong

The cover is underwhelming, even disturbing, for sure, but the inclusion of Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema (1997) and Still Love You After All These (1997) might make this release one of the year's best for me.

Yes, I knew about the first doc, but not the second. Is that a feature-length doc, too??

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

Yes, I knew about the first doc, but not the second. Is that a feature-length doc, too??

According to IMDb it’s 43 minutes.

[yanghao6998]

Added this to my watchlist but meanwhile, Farewell My Concubine release next please Criterion?

[Sommerswerd]

DVDBeaver review: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film10/blu-...ge_blu-ray.htm

[Markgway]

"Haunting" is the word that always springs to mind when recalling ROUGE.

It's beautiful, yet tragic.

I'm torn on buying this one, because although I know it's a great movie, I hate movies that make me sad.

BTW, is it coming out in the UK?

[AndrewFM]

Originally Posted by Markgway

"Haunting" is the word that always springs to mind when recalling ROUGE.

It's beautiful, yet tragic.

I'm torn on buying this one, because although I know it's a great movie, I hate movies that make me sad.

BTW, is it coming out in the UK?

Not announced yet so may be a while. Pink Flamingos is only trailing the US release by a month so I would assume there's no interest from Criterion in a UK release since it hasn't been announced.

[AndrewFM]

Originally Posted by Markgway

"Haunting" is the word that always springs to mind when recalling ROUGE.

It's beautiful, yet tragic.

I'm torn on buying this one, because although I know it's a great movie, I hate movies that make me sad.

BTW, is it coming out in the UK?

In fact, this seems like something I'd expect from Eureka as part of their Masters of Cinema line in the UK.

[qw0aszx]

Seems like Criterion did slight color corrections on the 4K restoration source, which is a nice job.

[Show spoiler]

Hope some label could do similar thing to the 4K restoration of Center Stage, color of that one was heavily filtered by L'Immagine Ritrovata, waaay worse than the one of Rouge.

[AndrewFM]

Did Criterion pull this release? Out of print on Amazon already

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by AndrewFM

Did Criterion pull this release? Out of print on Amazon already

I assume you''re not in the US? Amazon shows it as unavilable depending on your location.

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by AndrewFM

Did Criterion pull this release? Out of print on Amazon already

I got my copy from Amazon. Watching it now actually.

[BiggusDickus]

I'm in the UK and wanted this blu release of the film badly, luckily Amazon UK had some. One of the group of six films (Zu Warriors, Mr. Vampire, Rouge, Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Spiritual Love & Esprit d'Amour) I saw in the UK during a season of Chinese Ghost Stories on Channel 4 in 1990, hosted by Jonathan Ross. Just want Criterion/88/Eureka or someone to release the last two on a remastered blu ...

Oh, and for info, its Region A.