Peking Opera Blues

Peking Opera Blues (traditional Chinese: 刀馬旦; simplified Chinese: 刀马旦; pinyin: Dāo Mǎ Dàn; Jyutping: Dou1 Mah5 Daan2; Cantonese Yale: Dòu Máah Dáan) is a 1986 Hong Kong film directed by Tsui Hark. The movie combines comedy, Hong Kong action, and serious drama with scenes involving Peking Opera. Director Tsui Hark described the film as a satire on the "Chinese ignorance of democracy."[1] The film was nominated for six awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards including Best Actress.

Peking Opera Blues
Directed byTsui Hark
Produced byTsui Hark
Written byRaymond To
StarringBrigitte Lin
Cherie Chung
Sally Yeh
Paul Chun
Wu Ma
Kenneth Tsang
Music byJames Wong
CinematographyPoon Hang Seng (H.K.S.C)
Edited byDavid Wu
Production
company
Distributed byGolden Princess Film Production
Release date
  • 1986 (1986)
Running time
104 min
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese

Synopsis

The film is set in 1913 Beijing, during Yuan Shikai's presidency of the country. It depicts the adventures of a team of unlikely heroines: Tsao Wan (Brigitte Lin), a patriotic rebel who dresses as a man; Sheung Hung (Cherie Chung), a woman in search of a missing box of jewels; and Bai Niu (Sally Yeh), the daughter of a Peking Opera impresario.

Title

The Chinese title translates as Knife Horse Actresses, a term used in Peking Opera to refer to male actors playing female warriors (See Dan article for details). It is sometimes erroneously translated as Knife Horse Dawn, because both words are represented by the same Chinese character.[2]

Cast and roles

Responses

The film grossed HK$17,559,357 in Hong Kong.[3]

In his Wrap Up video to the Region 1 DVD of Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express, Quentin Tarantino refers to Peking Opera Blues as "one of the greatest films ever made" and "a blast––it's a lot of fun."

Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
Year Category Recipient Result
1987 Best Actress Sally Yeh Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Paul Chun Nominated
Best Action Choreography Ching Siu-tung Nominated
Best Cinematography Hang-Sang Poon Nominated
Best Film Editing David Wu Nominated
Best Art Direction Vincent Wai
Kim-Sing Ho
Chi-Hing Leung		 Nominated

References
  1. Bleiler, David TLA Video & DVD Guide 2005 (St Martin's Griffin, 2004) p.478
  2. Jenny Kwok Wah Lau, 'Peking Opera Blues: Exploding Genre, Gender and History', in Film Analysis (Norton, 2005), p. 739.


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