Customer Reviews

Temptress Moon

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Set in China during the 1920s, Temptress Moon is a brooding Gothic tale about innocence corrupted, love betrayed and the collision of traditional Chinese culture with modern Western ways, played out as an elaborate 'battle of the sexes'. The film's concept is almost as ambitious as that of its predecessor, Farewell My Concubine, but where Farewell My Concubine succeeded brilliantly in communicating both its personal and political aspects, Temptress Moon tends to get stuck in its own convoluted story line and repeated viewing is required to be able to fully appreciate it. Nevertheless, those patient enough to do so will be richly rewarded as this is a masterpiece in disguise, not least due to its stunning photography and the three lead actors' brilliant performances.

Following the death of their parents, 13-year old Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung) is invited to live with his older sister and her husband, the heir of the wealthy Pang family, in their sprawling country mansion. He soon finds himself in the position of a virtual slave who has to wait on them hand and foot. When his brother-in-law tries to force him into an incestuous relationship with his sister, he poisons him and flees to Shanghai where he becomes a gigolo who makes his living off sleeping with married women and then blackmailing them. Meanwhile, the head of the Pang family has died and since the heir has been reduced to a vegetable by Zhongliang's poisoning attempt, his sister Ruyi (Gong Li) becomes head of the family in his place. Since she is only a 'weak' woman, her distant relative Duanwu (Kevin Lin) is appointed to be her servant in order to aid and effectively control her. Duanwu is, however, besotted with Ruyi and when she seizes control of the family's fortunes in an unexpectedly assertive way, he supports her 'shocking' actions, bravely facing the family elders' wrath. His hopes are dashed, however, when Zhongliang, by order of the triad boss he works for, returns to the Pang mansion and sets out to seduce the innocent (but very willing) Ruyi in order to lure her back to Shanghai with him. The cynical gigolo plays to her rebellious nature by educating her in Western culture but soon, to his horror, finds himself falling in love with her. Panicking, he tries to extricate himself from the web of deceit he has woven but it is too late and tragedy ensues.

Temptress Moon is one of the few films that allowed tragic Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung (Farewell My Concubine, A Chinese Ghost Story, Happy Together) to display the full range of his impressive acting skills. He plays the doomed and damaged Zhongliang with disturbing intensity, from the dashing gigolo who is so full of hate that he won't allow himself to feel any emotions to the tormented young man who, when he finally does fall in love, is forced to confront his inner demons and is destroyed by it. He shines even in the smallest scenes, like when he slouches at a dancehall table and tries to seduce a young girl into dancing with him but then abandons the idea when he realises that she is crying. Without saying a single word he conveys a wealth of conflicting emotions that most other actors wouldn't be able to express if they had so many lines of dialogue to help them along. It is a pity that many people still seem to be unable to see past his 'pretty face' and realise what an exceptional actor he was underneath. As for the others, the great Gong Li is excellent as always in her poetic portrayal of the innocent but spirited Ruyi who tries to find her way in a hostile and oppressive environment and Kevin Lin gives a superb performance as the naïve Duanwu who, through betrayal and humiliation, turns from loyal and devoted servant into a devious brute.

Gorgeous, decadent, sensual, at times psychologically incoherent, Kaige Chen's "Temptress Moon" is nothing if not always fascinating to watch because at the very center of this film, at it's core, is a story about family, desire and the things we do to each other in the name of love.
Set mostly in Shanghai in the 1920's when China was opening up to the world outside of it's borders, it is reminiscent of Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor," in it's surface beauty and rich, idle, beautiful characters: Zhonglaing (Leslie Cheung), a gigolo and his cousin Ruyi (the incandescent Gong-Li) a recent heiress. Chen is a director who is more interested in showing than telling and his images are so dynamic and surprising that they smack you in the gut.
"Temptress Moon" is a film of uncommon grace and beauty, more of a tone poem than a symphony perhaps but always deserving of your time and attention.

Temptress moon takes us to the pre 2nd world war China where emperor still ruled and powerful families lived in big lands with many servants and employees. Story starts with a young member of the family who flees from home after her sister and her husbands lustful and opium based life that suffocates him. He poisons his sisters husband and flees to Shanghai. He becomes a gigolo who ambushes married rich ladies and blackmails them for a Chinese mafioso. Years later he returns home in order to seduce the young master of the house who was also a childhood friend a sister to him. The lead acting is provided by Gong Li and Leslie Cheung ,meeting one more time after the "farewell my concubine" and executed brilliantly. Scenes are well shot and especially nite time shots of the films opening scenes as well as street shots and hotel ballroom shots of Shanghai is impressive. Gong Li and her faultless innocence and Cheung's troubled sophistication and regret draws the main lines of the story and it journeys throughout the film, leaving us in curiousity of "what will happen in the next scene ?" The real surprise of the film is the unexpected ending that really adds to the overall success of the film. An alternative story of love and hate which will get your emotions going.

Chen Kaige creates another period masterpiece with TEMPTRESS MOON, the story of a wealthy family struggling to maintain their history on the outskirts of Shanghai.

Due to her brother's condition resulting from an addiction to opium (or so we're lead to believe), Ruyi (the ever glowing Gong Li) is granted leadership over the family fortune at a time when women were relegated to secondary roles. However, Zhongliang -- a close relation now grown up and playing a con man to perfection in Shanghai -- returns home to bilk her out of the family fortune at the demand of his boss. When Zhongliang discovers he has fallen in love with her, he chooses to alter her fate ... but his choice only secures his own fate in the eyes of the triad he serves.

MOON is wonderfully photographed, though this image transfer is a bit grainy at times. It is a contemporary 'Romeo & Juliet,' with gangland influences and wonderful period photography. The lovemaking -- while pushing the boundaries in a mainstream foreign release -- is relatively tame but beautiful captured with powerful emotion and vivid lighting. At points, the film feels almost like a narrative valentine to the family and the viewer; but don't look for any happy ending here.

The ending poses a small handful of tight flashbacks that gives new meaning to some of the events depicted in the film, defining more greatly the motivations of the main characters, once again demonstrating how meaningful small decisions are in the pursuit of daily life and how tragic their consequences may inevitably be in the day, months, and years ahead.

While it arguably may be a bit hard to follow at times, TEMPTRESS MOON nonetheless delivers as a truly spectacular, moving experience that should not be missed.

This film has a slow start, but it sets the stage for the later development of the central characters. Gong Li and Leslie Cheung, two extraordinary actors, are incredibly beautiful to look at, and the chemistry between them is palpable. The relationships in this movie are so complicated...there are multiple triangles...that one viewing is simply not enough to do it justice. This one has to be seen a second time, and it will be well worth it.

Definitely worth pining for! I decided to purchase Temptress Moon after viewing the breathtaking, and devastating, Farewell My Concubine. Both movies feature the amazing talents of Gong Li and Leslie Cheung. So total is their transformation between the two films, it's difficult to believe that these are the same actors. While Concubine served as a historical epic, Temptress Moon seemed more along the lines of Shakespearean tragedy. Like Kaige's previous work, the characters' frustrations signify larger themes: domestic turmoil; gender repression; family conflict; etc. Although these themes concern the private sphere of life and are not as overtly political as those addressed in Concubine, they are just as much about power, its abuse and the resulting disfigurement of the human spirit.

Temptress Moon is by no means a romance. The movie succeeds in being lyrical and melancholy - more engrossing than entertaining. Despite the requisite tragic ending, I found the plot to be oddly satisfying! The waxing and waning fates of Zhongliang, Ruyi, and Duanwu intertwined to create a luminous study of the heart and its insatiable hunger. Overall, Temptress Moon was a clear reflection of the obsessions that ruthlessly dictate interpersonal affairs. Leslie Cheung, Gong Li and Kevin Lin give mesmerizing performances, while supporting portrayals like that of Caifei He as Zhongliang's sister and Yin Tse as Zhongliang's Boss are equally flawless. (Among the movie's many moral messages: "Don't Do Drugs!" :)

This is a domestic drama of the 1920s when China was fought over by warlords and Shanghai was a city ruled by fat-cat Western and Japanese interests and Chinese criminals. The chaos and split-personality of China at the time is captured by the film.

What you can say about this movie is that it was not directed by Zhang Yimou who did (if I'm not mistaken) Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou which were excellent movies. "Temptress Moon" is similar to Zhang's work. But Gong Li, the lead actress, is less sensual than usual, the story is convoluted and complicated, and the plot strains credibility.

The lead male character, Zhong, is a Chinese Tom Cruise. The women all love him, despite the fact that he's a louse. He suffers horribly because they suffer because of their love for him. Nobody suffers as much as Gong Li. The photography is gorgeous. The movie is worth seeing and is intriguing -- but it's not good enough to see several times to puzzle out what is going on.

Smallchief

I've seen most of Chen Kaige's films and this one is undoubtedly one of his best efforts. Yes, there was plenty of luxuriant cinematography to complement the decadent sensuality of the story line. And yes the central theme of the story - the tragedy brought on by one man's inability to love, his indulgence in hate and jealousy - is a well-beaten horse. But Chen was so successful in creating richly-detailed, fully 3-dimensional characters that the viewer quickly became interested in their fate and the watched in fascination as the tangled web unfolds.

I did not find the pace of the film too slow and mind you, I thought Mission Impossible 2 was too slow. But I don't expect a 3 figure body count from a Chen Kaige film. Nor did I find the plot of the film especially complex, as long as you are not distracted by the multitude of secondary characters and focus on the main ones. Ultimately, this is a story about boy (who happens to be a mobster) meets girl (who is supposed to be the victim), boy falls for girl, boy is scared of love, boy loses girl, boy becomes jealous and tragedy ensues.

Despite the undercurrent of tragedy always present, the film does not lack for hilarious moments. Leslie Cheung is dashing as the gigolo-bandit who struts about sprouting pick-up lines such as "Miss, where is the family library?" Gong Li gave her usual solid performance as the woman discovering her sensuality and is always pleasant to look at, though I have doubts about her range.

A great film. But you have to be in the right mood for it.

I think this film is in some ways an improvement over Chen Kaiges breakthrough film Farewell my Concubine. In the earlier film Kaige waters down a very good story with too many references to history. In Temptress Moon Kaige remains focused on his characters and keeps the tone of the film an intimate one. In fact the film rarely leaves the intimate corridors of the Pang family estate. It is within those mossy walls that Kaige tells this tale of three childhood cousins/friends/lovers whose intimate bonds to each other become poisoned by their changing roles within the family structure. History does play a part in this film but it is interwoven only very subtly. The family estate is isolated from the big cities but the corruption finds its way into the estate. In fact Chen Kaiges suggests by the nature and course of this story that corruption is built into the very nature of the old ways as well as the new. And this, in the end, becomes the theme of the picture. But this theme is so quietly fleshed out with such nice performances that by pictures end you find yourself amazed at what Chen Kaige has conveyed with his very intimate story. This is a much better crafted piece of filmmaking than Farewell My Concubine or the later Emperor & The Assassin.

This 1996 Chinese film is set in the sophisticated Shanghai of 1920 as well as the surrounding area. It is a fascinating drama including opium smoking, love, lust and revenge. There's a beautiful young woman, who has been raised to prepare opium for her father and brother. As her brother is paralyzed, she inherits the family home but despite her wealth, she is unhappy. A distant male cousin serves her and falls in love with her. But she falls in love with her sister-in-law's younger brother who has fled the household years ago because of a shameful secret and now makes his living romancing and blackmailing wealthy women in Shanghai. The plot thickens.

Sound complicated? Well, it is. But that didn't stop me from watching the story unfold in spite of the farfetched plot. The scenery was beautiful. The acting was excellent. And the location was exotic. And so I relaxed and just enjoyed the film. Recommended.