FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI Wilts in the Anticipation of Something Greater
Hou Hsiao-hsien's masterfully photographed FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI is unfortunatley clogged up by its own limitations of the material which pits Tony Leung (wonderful as always) playing a kindly Lord who gets too involved with his slightly neurotic and overly posessive concubine lover (a gorgeous Wei hsiao-***). Almost all of the "action" takes place in the moody shadows and candellight of this setting - an opulently furnished houise of ill repute - which makes for vey long sections of absolutely no camera movement which I realize is supposed to make a statement, but unfortunately in this particular instance, it just becomes a bit redundant and dull...