Finally, Wong Kar-wai is back. The chinese auteur has been out of the game for nearly a decade. That’s right. Incredibly, it was in 2013 when he released martial arts masterpiece, The Grandmaster. And now he’s back with Blossoms Shanghai, a period drama that he says is the third chapter of the story that includes classics In the Mood for Love and 2046.
Based on Jin Yucheng’s novel, Blossoms Shanghai follows three Shanghai residents from the early ’60s, at the end of China’s Cultural Revolution, and through the ’90s. The film is written by Qin Wen and has lensing by Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau. Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, and Xin Zhilei lead the cast.
Kar-wai isn’t the most prolific filmmaker out there, but he’s one of the most respected. He made one attempt at a Hollywood movie, 2007’s My Blueberry Nights, which most people dislike but I kinda love just for Norah Jones. So sue me. His breakout film, 1994’s Chungking Express, received a ton of attention here after Quentin Tarantino gave it his thumbs up.
“Jin Yucheng’s landmark novel Blossoms has been the perfect backdrop to visualize and share my love for my birth city,” said Wong Kar-wai. “With the series, I would like to invite the audience to immerse in the intrigues of Shanghai and its inhabitants in the early 1990s, an exciting time that paved the way for the prosperity of modern Shanghai.”
Blossoms Shanghai will be release in China in 2023 but no stateside release yet.
