Temptress Moon is a slow-burning tale of romantic intrigue that builds to a drama-tic, somewhat grotesque, conclusion. It's a careful piece of filmmaking, which sees Chen Kaige reinstate some of the reserve that characterised his work prior to Farewell My Concubine, the film that - with Jane Campion's The Piano - lifted the Palme d'Or in 1993.
The film is a period drama, set during the chaotic 10 years that followed the founding of the Republic in 1911. China, at that time, was plunged into chaos as the Republic foundered. Central authority and order broke down as warlord armies took control of sections of the country.
"I wanted to do a period piece," says Kaige of the film's genesis. "But although the film is not a political film, my experiences mean that I can't make a film that is, say, just a romance; it has to be deeper."Chen thought that the rapid changes and consequent social confusion of the early days of the Republic mirrored the condition of today's China. Deng Xiaoping's idea of 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' - that is, Communist ideals with a free-market economy - has prompted a state of social upheaval as the country's inhabitants trade Marx and Mao for Mammon.
"Although it's set in the past, the story about a changing society mirrors the modern world," says Chen, who has chosen to set the film amid the bustling and decadent city of Shanghai and the more serene environs of Suzhou. "Shanghai then is similar to the coastal cities and places like Shenzen of today. I did a lot of research into the period, and found it was a very interesting time…in the 10 years after the fall of the Qing dynasty there were a lot of changes."
Temptress Moon opens in a large traditional house in Suzhou in 1911. The members of the family are all opium addicts, and in a hazy, druggy scene, the dashing young Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung) seems to be seduced by his sister Xiuyi, played by a thin-lipped He Safei. This is followed by another unnatural occurrence: Xiuyi's husband, the Young Master of the househould, is suddenly paralysed.
Kaige then follows Zhongliang as he leaves Suzhou, presumably in self-disgust, to make his way to Beijing. He's waylaid in Shanghai, where he becomes a gigolo thief for a Triad gang, seducing women and then forcing them to blackmail their husbands.
Meanwhile, Ruyi (Gong Li) takes charge of the Suzhou house. Zhongliang is sent back to Suzhou, and an emotional thunderstorm starts to build. Zhonglian falls in love with Ruyi, but his sister Xiyiu, besotted with him, tries to break up the romance. Duanwu, a poor relative of Ruyi who acts as her servant, also falls passionately in love with her mistress… Temptress Moon reunites Chen with Concubine's Leslie Cheung and Gong Li. Cheung, uniformly excellent throughout, was penned in for the lead from the outset. "He likes working with me," says Chen. Gong Li was the third actress to take on the role of Ruyi: the first choice lasted only two days, while Taiwanese actress Wang Jingqing was fired after two months. Cinephiles may recognise supporting actress He Safei from Zhang Yimou's Raise The Red Lantern.
Chen says that the emotional maelstrom on screen was in part mirrored by the cast's real-life experiences during shooting. "A lot of things happened during the shoot," says Chen. "I lost my father [director Chen Huaikai] and Gong Li had her troubles [Gong split up with her long-time partner Zhang Yimou during the shoot]. And He Safei was suffering too, as she had an abortion during filming."
The script, by Chen and Shanghai-based female writer Wang Anyi, follows a serpentine course yet never loses the viewer. In fact, Chen tells much of the story with images, using dialogue sparingly. Music is also underplayed; Chen favours using short instrumental phrases to emphasise certain ac-tions within a scene, rather than having music underscore the whole film.
Director of photography Australian-born lenser Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express) makes full use of a Steadicam and hand-held to break some static frames, giving Chen's work a radical new look. "It was Chen's idea to move the camera," says Doyle. "I think he wanted to move the Fifth Generation into the next generation…Also, he thought that the spaces involved were so big, he would have to present them more intimately so that they didn't dwarf the characters."
The locations, too, are impressive: there are some grand recreations of Shanghai that fully convey the city's bustling, cosmopolitan lifestyle. "As Shan-ghai has changed so much, we built the sets for old Shanghai in a suburb on the outskirts of the city," says Chen. "The Shanghai scenes reflect the social changes that are taking place."
The film's Chinese title literally translates as "wind and moon", a phrase that will lead many Chinese viewers to think that the film will be light. "After they've seen it, they will realise that the title is the opposite of the film," says Chen.
Richard James Havis
Prod Co: Tomson Films
Prod: Hsu Feng
Dir: Chen Kaige
Scr: Chen Kaige, Wang Anyi
Ph: Christopher Doyle
Prod des: Huang Qiagui
Music: Zhao Jiping
Ed: Pei Xiaonan
Cast: Leslie Cheung, Gong Li, Kevin Lin, He Saifei, David Wu
Running time: 130mins
International sales: Tomson Films
