Posted in: Movies, News | Tagged: 4k restoration, Cannes 2024, comedy, Hong Kong films, Shanghai Blues, Shanghai Blues 2024, tsui hark

Shanghai Blues: Tsui Hark's Restored 1984 Comedy to Screen at Cannes

Shanghai Blues, Hong Kong director Tsui Hark's classic 1984 comedy, has been restored to 4K and will screen at the Cannes Film Festival

Hong Kong action director Tsui Hark's 1984 comedy classic Shangha Blues has been restored to 4K as Shanghai Blues 2024 and will be screened in the prestigious Cannes Classics programme at the 77^th Cannes Film Festival. The film is one of the defining titles of Tsui Hark's career after The Butterfly Murders, Dangerous Encounters of the Third Kind, and Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain as part of the Hong Kong New Wave.

Set against the backdrop of wartime Shanghai in the 1940s, the film weaves a poignant love story between a soldier, Tung Kwok-Man (Kenny Bee), and a young woman, Shu-Shu (Sylvia Chang), who bond in the dark while taking shelter from the Japanese bombardment. They promise to meet after the war but never get their names or faces. They meet again after the war but don't recognise each other as they get on each other's nerves on jobs in the city's music scene. Pop star Sally Yeh plays their friend, an aspiring singer who works her way to the top and gets more than she bargained for—infused with a delightful blend of innocent romanticism, satirical wit, and whimsical sophistication reminiscent of 1940s Hollywood screwball comedies, Shanghai Blues showcased director Tsui Hark as a burgeoning master who could seamlessly fuse different genres for the screen. The film was shot in Hong Kong without ever setting foot in Mainland China since that was impossible in the 1980s and on a budget that would be considered "shoestring" today.

Shanghai Blues, a Neglected Classic Finally Restored

To bring the film back after 40 years, Shanghai Blues underwent a meticulous digital restoration under the supervision of director Tsui Hark himself. Besides new grading, the restoration project features new dubbing, with each character speaking in their native dialects – Mandarin, Shanghainese, Cantonese, and others from various regions – adding an extra layer of authenticity and depth to the entertaining script. The previous version of the film only had single alternate Cantonese and Mandarin dubs for their respective markets. Hopefully, the new version will also feature new and improved English subtitles.

Shanghai Blues holds a special place for Tsui Hark as it marks the first film from his production company, Film Workshop, which he established in 1984 with his producer, Nansun Shi. Not only is it the company's firstborn, but it also represents the heyday of Hong Kong cinema. It serves as a powerful reminder of their enduring passion for filmmaking and dedication to the art of movies four decades later. Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi would go on to make Peking Opera Blues (also starring Sally Yeh), A Chinese Ghost Story, produce John Woo's A Better Tomorrow trilogy and The Killer, the Swordsman trilogy (which featured Brigitte Lin as the trans warrior Invincible Asia and turned her into the biggest female star in 1990s Asia) and the Once Upon A Time in China movie series that made Jet Li an international martial arts star. Shanghai Blues is a major title in Hong Kong Cinema History.

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