Tsui Hark spent the 1980s making Hong Kong cinema faster and stranger than anyone else, and SHANGHAI BLUES is his most generous film — screwball comedy, wartime romance and backstage musical crammed into 103 minutes. The 4K restoration was supervised by Tsui himself from the original negative, with a remixed soundtrack and new subtitles. Friday night at Metrograph is the version this movie has been waiting forty years for.
What to expect
103 minutes on 4K DCP with English subtitles, screening in Metrograph's assigned-seating house on Ludlow Street. It plays Friday at 7:20pm and again Sunday at noon, so the weekend gives you a night-out option and a hangover option. Its companion piece, Tsui's PEKING OPERA BLUES, follows Friday at 9:30pm in another 4K restoration.
Good to know
- Part of Don't Play with Fire: The Films of Tsui Hark at Metrograph.
- The 4K restoration was supervised from the original negative by Tsui Hark with L'Immagine Ritrovata.
- Two weekend showtimes: Friday, September 4 at 7:20pm and Sunday, September 6 at 12:00pm.
- Tickets are $18 general, $11 members, $12 seniors 65+ and guests with disabilities.
- Double-bill it with PEKING OPERA BLUES, also 4K, Friday at 9:30pm.
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Common questions
What is new about this restoration?
It is a 40th-anniversary 4K restoration supervised from the original negative by Tsui Hark with L'Immagine Ritrovata, with the soundtrack remixed by One Cool Sound plus new dialect dubbing and improved English subtitles.
When can I see it this weekend?
Friday, September 4 at 7:20pm and Sunday, September 6 at 12:00pm.
Is there a companion screening?
Yes — PEKING OPERA BLUES (1986, 104 min, 4K DCP), also part of the Tsui Hark series, screens Friday, September 4 at 9:30pm.
How long is it?
103 minutes, screening on 4K DCP; a Film Movement release.
