SCREENING

Vividly Maggie

Gliding effortlessly between genres as she does between languages, Maggie Cheung is a true modern global screen icon – from wuxia epics to experimental arthouse; from Cantonese to English to French; Maggie is the first Asian woman to win cinema’s highest honor: the Cannes Best Actress Award.

Transcending the stereotypical wallflower archetypes for women during the Hong Kong film boom of the 80s, Maggie became the new face of the burgeoning New Wave scene, sparking what would become a long and definitive association with cult director Wong Kar Wai before going on to redefine Asian characterisations in European and world cinema with acclaimed French director Olivier Assayas.

This May, we place a keen eye on the various key turning points in Maggie Cheung’s filmography that have signposted her journey to Cannes greatness through 7 curated films. From her carefully attuned portrayal of the multi-layered immigrant experience in Ann Hui’s rarely shown Song Of The Exile; to her sultry, fish-out-of-water cheekiness in Irma Vep; to her career-defining, reluctant radiance in Center Stage; we see a mesmerising, effortless and commanding screen presence that is unlike any other in modern cinema memory – one that is vividly… Maggie.

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Films

In The Mood for Love (2000)
Dir. Wong Kar Wai
98 minutes | PG
Cantonese, Shanghainese with English subtitles

Showtimes
13 May, Sat | 11am - SOLD OUT
20 May, Sat | 7.30pm - SOLD OUT
28 May, Sun | 2pm - SOLD OUT
11 Jun, Sun | 11am - SOLD OUT

In bustling 1962 Hong Kong, Chow Mo-Wan moves into a new apartment with his wife. The same day Su Li-Zhen moves in next door with her husband. The two have no real relationship – they pass each other on the stairway going out to get food – until both suddenly grasp that their spouses are having an affair together. As they begin meeting to ponder this shared infidelity, Li-Zhen and Mo-Wan start to feel emotions they are not sure they can, or should, express.
Clean (2004)
Dir. Olivier Assayas
110 minutes | NC16 (Some Drug Use)
French, English, Cantonese with English subtitles

Showtimes
21 May, Sun | 2pm
3 Jun, Sat | 4.30pm
1 Jul, Sat | 4.30pm - Additional Screening

Junkie Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) is arrested for heroin possession after her partner, Lee Hauser (James Johnston), fatally overdoses in a Canada motel room. After serving six months in jail, Emily learns she has lost custody of her son, Jay (James Dennis). Lee's father, Albrecht (Nick Nolte), who has been raising the boy with his wife (Martha Henry), gets in touch with Emily. As she regains contact with her child, she struggles to achieve sobriety, find a job and pursue her singing career.
Ashes of Time Redux (2008)
Dir. Wong Kar Wai
100 minutes | NC16 (Some Violence)
Cantonese with English subtitles

Showtimes
20 May, Sat | 4.30pm
28 May, Sun | 4.30pm
10 Jun, Sat | 4.30pm

From Director Wong Kar Wai comes the definitive version of Ashes of Time, an epic martial arts masterpiece of larger-than-life characters, breathtaking landscapes and exquisite fight scenes. The story centers on Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung), a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days alone in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. Throughout five seasons in exile, as friends and enemies come and go, he reflects back upon his solitude.
Song Of The Exile (1990)
Dir. Ann Hui
100 minutes | PG
Cantonese*, Japanese with English subtitles

Showtimes
14 May, Sun | 2pm
18 Jun, Sun | 11am

Set in the early 1970s, Song of the Exile tells the story of Chinese-Japanese student Hui-Yan (Maggie Cheung), who returns after graduating from university in London to her native Hong Kong for the wedding of her younger sister. It doesn't take long for the young woman to discover the vast gulf now separating her from her mother, Aiko (Lu Shao-fen). As Hui-Yan prepares for the wedding, she contends with her mother's animosity for the Western customs she's picked up. In search of answers, Cheung dredges up painful memories of the past that shed light on her mother's resentful behaviour.

*Mandarin dialogue by Lu Hsiao-Fen is dubbed in Cantonese
Center Stage (1991)
Dir. Stanley Kwan
154 minutes | NC16 (Some Nudity)
Cantonese, Mandarin with English subtitles

Showtimes
13 May, Sat | 4.30pm
4 Jun, Sun | 2pm
17 Jun, Sat | 4.30pm

In the spring of 1935, silent movie star Ruan Ling-yu took her own life, shocking the world. Her funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of mourning fans. Having entered the film world at the age of 16, she made 29 silent movies and became the idol of tens of thousands in the short span of 9 years. As she rose to fame, she also rose to infamy with scandals over her private life. Her death at such an early age gave rise to much debate: did she kill herself because of her career? Or for love?

With her sensitive portrayal, Maggie Cheung took Ruan’s story abroad and won the best actress award at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.
Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996)
Dir. Peter Chan
118 minutes | PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Sexual References)
Cantonese, Mandarin with English subtitles

Showtimes
21 May, Sun | 4.30pm - SOLD OUT
24 Jun, Sat | 4.30pm - SOLD OUT

Country boy Xiaojun (Leon Lai) moves to Hong Kong, hoping to get rich so that he can send for his hometown sweetheart and marry her. But Xiaojun barely scrapes by in the baffling metropolis, and is lonely until he meets city-slicker Qiao (Maggie Cheung). While she schools him in urban living, the mismatched pair become best friends and eventually have a romantic tryst. Both decide it's wise to forget their passionate night and remain friends, but they still secretly yearn for one another.
Irma Vep (1996)
Dir. Olivier Assayas
99 minutes | M18 (Nudity)
French, English with English subtitles

Showtimes
14 May, Sun | 4.30pm
25 Jun, Sun | 11am

When a director in decline decides to remake Louis Feuillade’s silent serial «Les Vampires», he casts a Hong Kong action heroine who does not speak any French. On the chaotic set, she finds petty intrigues, clashing egos and a wardrobe mistress with a crush on her.