Stanley Kwan, like a lot of figures in the Hong Kong movie scene, entered the industry through the training scheme of the television network TVB. He originally trained as an actor but soon found his strengths lay in production. At the end of the 70s and through the first half of the 80s he worked on films as a script supervisor or assistant director, including some by New Wave figures like Ann Hui and Patrick Tam. After a few years though, a friend encouraged Kwan to take a step up towards directing.
The strong connections he’d made as an assistant helped Kwan entice some talented collaborators and he made his directorial debut with Women. This was a critical success, being nominated for nine Hong Kong Film Awards including Best Picture.
The two films he made following this, Love Unto Waste and Rouge, were equally lauded and 88 Films are releasing the pair on Blu-ray in the UK. I thought I’d check them out.
Please note, though I’m reviewing the titles together, due to their shared release date and director, the films are being released separately, not together in a box set.
Love Unto Waste
Director: Stanley Kwan
Screenplay: Chiu Kang-Chien, Lai Kit
Based on a Story by: Lai Kit, Kam-Hung Yip
Starring: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Elaine Jin Yan-Ling, Irene Wan, Chow Yun-Fat, Chin Tsai, Elaine Chow Sau-Lan
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 98 min
Year: 1986
BBFC Certificate: 15
Love Unto Waste is set in contemporary Hong Kong and follows the lives of four young people who are living a seemingly carefree life. Tony (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) is the manager of his family’s rice company but spends his evenings drinking and partying. He shows little interest in settling down with his colleague, Miss Chong (Sau Lan Chow), who clearly cares for him. Billie is a successful model who comes back to Hong Kong only to drift around, crashing out on the sofa of wannabe actress Liu (Elaine Jin) and lounge singer Chiu (Chin Tsai).
The quartet become friends but their lives are shattered when Chiu is brutally murdered in a burglary. Following this, the survivors’ relationships shift as they come under the scrutiny of an eccentric cop, Detective Lan (Chow Yun-Fat), and their underlying fears and regrets slowly but surely emerge.
Love Unto Waste is an unusual kind of ‘hang-out’ movie. The murder comes out of nowhere, after previously just following the quartet through their aimless lives. After this and the entrance of Chow Yun-Fat’s character, you think it’s going to turn into a murder mystery, but the importance of who killed Chiu soon fades away and we instead chart the angst of the three remaining characters and, indeed, Detective Lan’s too.
The film and its characters have an elusive quality that might not appeal to those looking for a more solid, narrative-focused tale, but I found myself drawn into this curious exploration of ennui. The lack of clear focus or answers only made me more interested.
The strong performances further enhance the lure of the film. Yun-Fat initially seems a little out of place with his strange quirks but he eventually settles into the overriding tone.
Love Unto Waste also delves into the theme of immigration. Most of the characters have had a chance to ‘escape’ or have moved in or out of their home countries to lead potentially ‘better’ lives. However, they remain unsatisfied and lost.
From a technical standpoint, the film is impressive too. Good use is made of colour and locations. Whilst I found the score a little dated, I also loved the use of pop songs on the soundtrack, particularly when Chiu sings.
Overall then, Love Unto Waste is a laid-back but melancholic examination of ‘wasted youth’, characters lost despite finding kindred spirits and promising opportunities. It’s a film you can get lost in yourself, through its thoughtful and quietly, sadly beautiful approach.
Film:
Rouge
Director: Stanley Kwan
Screenplay: Lilian Lee Bik-Wah, Chiu Kang-Chien
Based on a Novel by: Lilian Lee Bik-Wah
Starring: Anita Mui Yim-Fong, Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing, Alex Man Chi-Leung, Emily Chu Bo-Yee, Irene Wan, Tam Sin-Hung, Chu Shui-Tong, Wong Yu, Lau Kar-Wing
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 98 min
Year: 1987
BBFC Certificate: 15
Rouge opens in 1930s Hong Kong, where the courtesan Fleur (Anita Mui Yim-Fong) falls deeply in love with Chan (Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing), the heir to a wealthy family. Their forbidden romance leads them to a tragic suicide pact, with the promise of reuniting in the afterlife.
However, Fleur’s spirit remains earthbound, unable to find Chan. Fifty years later, she places an advertisement in a modern-day newspaper, hoping to locate her lost lover. This act draws the attention of Yuen (Alex Man Chi-Leung) and his girlfriend Chor (Emily Chu Bo-Yee), who both work at the newspaper and agree to help Fleur in her search.
Rouge was based on a popular novel by Lilian Lee. Kwan was originally just preparing a script for the adaptation with a different cast and director on board. However, the original director, Terry Tong, wasn’t happy with the script and, after the delays dragged on for too long, Tong and much of the cast left for other projects. So Kwan was asked to take over.
Anita Mui, the only core cast member who stayed, helped get her friend Leslie Cheung in the cast by offering a favour to Cinema City, whom Cheung was contracted to at the time. Kwan purposefully cast less well-known actors as the 80s protagonists.
This casting was perfect, with Mui being particularly impressive, as the most prominent character. Her performance is elegant and subtly passionate. She and Cheung, aided by their real-life friendship, share powerful chemistry. Sadly, both of them died tragically young in 2003, Mui from cancer and Cheung by suicide.
This fact adds extra poignancy to an already melancholic tale. There’s plenty of swooning romance too though. The tone, in the 1930s sections at least, reminded me of In the Mood For Love, with its relaxed pace, sumptuous period production design, beautiful use of colour and movement, and the doomed romance at its core.
The ghost story aspect of the film adds an unusual spin on the central period romance though. It subverts the usual ghost story cliches too. Fleur can walk among the living without anyone batting an eyelid, other than to maybe note her striking dress sense. She acts like a normal person too, with relatable needs and desires. She’s not floating around scaring people or drinking their blood (the latter is joked about at one point, in fact).
Reportedly, Jackie Chan, who was a producer on the film, almost added some crazier scenes with wirework and special FX, to boost the ghost angle. Kwan said he’d take his name off the film if that happened but, luckily, the original cut was screened early to awards judges and in Taiwan, and was extremely successful, critically and commercially, so the film remained as it was.
On top of telling a powerful love story, the film often compares the old to the new, leaning towards the romantic notions of the former. Actual locations were used in the city where the re-imagined locations used to be, showing how much had changed in Hong Kong over the past 50 years. Kwan is perhaps doing this to comment on the ephemeral nature of much of the world we know during a time when the conditions for the handover of Hong Kong to China from British colonial rule were recently made out.
On the whole, Rouge is an elegant, melancholic love story and an ode to a lost era that’s achingly beautiful. Like Love Unto Waste, it’s light on plot but thrives on atmosphere and romance.
Film:
Love Unto Waste and Rouge are out now separately on Blu-Ray, released by 88 Films (pre-order them here). Both films look fantastic. Love Unto Waste has rich colours, a natural light grain and a sharp image. Rouge has a heavier grain in certain sequences but this looks natural and colours are rich without looking over-saturated. Though I don’t have the US Criterion Rouge disc to compare, I had a look at the Criterion website and the stills there look very similar to the 88 Films disc, so I presume they’ve used the same transfer. I’ve used screengrabs to give you an idea of how the 88 Films disc looks, though these have been compressed. Audio is strong on both discs too.
LIMITED EDITION FEATURES:
LOVE UNTO WASTE
– Brand new 2K transfer from the Original Camera Negative
– High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
– 2.0 Cantonese Dual Mono
– Cantonese & Mandarin 5.1 Surround sound
– Newly translated optional English subtitles
– Trailer
– Stills Gallery
– Reversible sleeve with brand-new artwork from Mark Bell & original Hong Kong poster artwork
– Limited edition first pressing also includes O-ring slipcase
ROUGE
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Stanley Kwan, with uncompressed Cantonese monaural soundtrack
– Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
– High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation in original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
– Newly translated optional English subtitles
– Another Kind of Chinese Ghost Story – An Interview with Director Stanley Kwan
– Archive Interview with Director Stanley Kwan
– Trailer
– Stills Gallery
– Reversible sleeve with brand-new artwork from Yu Ming Huang & original Hong Kong poster artwork
– Limited edition also includes ‘In Memory of Willie Chan’ limited edition booklet with notes by Thorsten Boose
– Limited edition first pressing also includes O-ring slipcase
Sadly the Love Unto Waste disc is vanilla, bar a trailer and stills gallery. The Rouge disc also lacks the breadth of supplements on the recent Criterion disc, but you do get a couple of interviews with Kwan included. There’s an archival one that’s relatively short but, in it, Kwan is honest about how the project came to be and the issues that were faced. So, it’s a strong addition to the disc.
There’s also a more recent interview with the director. This is a little longer and in English. There’s some crossover but enough extra to make it valuable.
I didn’t get a copy of the Rouge booklet to comment on that.
So, whilst I would have loved to have seen more extra features included on both discs, the films and transfers are strong enough to recommend both releases.
Disc/package – Love Unto Waste:
Disc/package – Rouge:
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