73
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonA ravishing portrait of Shanghai brothel life in the late 19th Century, shot entirely in one-take scenes in luxuriant red-and-gold interior sets. [02 Oct 1998, p.J]
- 90The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasFlowers Of Shanghai is concerned with the commodification of sex and its hurtful consequences, but Hou leaves the perversion and beatings off-screen. What remains is a succession of tableaux so vividly realized in purely cinematic terms that the emotions seem to waft from the screen like smoke.
- 88Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrHou Hsiao-hsien is one of the masters of world cinema, and Flowers of Shanghai represents a shift for him. Stunning and hypnotic, it's his first period piece. [07 Apr 2000]
- 80Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderThe languid yet precise cinematography throughout gives it the seductive power of a drug-induced dream.
- 80Time OutTime OutHauntingly sad, the film elegantly deranges the viewer's sense of time: this seemingly unchanging world is in fact riven by off-screen incidents - which change everything.
- 75Slant MagazineCarson LundSlant MagazineCarson LundFlowers of Shanghai operates on the whole much like Yoshihiro’s music, filling your senses like a thick haze, holding you rapt without petitioning for your attention.
- 60VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyGorgeously mounted, but butt-numbingly slow.
- 50The New York TimesLawrence Van GelderThe New York TimesLawrence Van GelderLavish in its depiction of surfaces -- clothing, furniture, lighting fixtures -- Flowers of Shanghai proves deficient in its revelation of inner lives.
- 50New York PostNew York PostScene for scene, it's like a gorgeous painting come to life, magically illuminated with a warm, orange glow. Unfortunately, those very sets and costumes take priority over a plot that - at best - is glacially paced. [06 Oct 1998, p.070]
- The camera never ventures outside, but remains fixed on the action at the table, gliding languidly past the same sepia-toned tableau: In the film's universe, people are indistinguishable and the setting never changes. Hou does succeed in one key respect: His films evokes opium addiction, a narcotic delirium fading into a dreamless sleep.