Metrograph

Beginning against the backdrop of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the inimitable Tsui’s kinetic, ultra-stylish screwball comedy/historical romance/backstage musical—beautifully restored for the occasion of its 40th anniversary—is one of the most zestily entertaining and exuberantly colorful works of 1980s Hong Kong cinema. Kenny Bee’s nightclub clown and would-be songwriter meets-cute with chanteuse Sylvia Chang under a bridge during a 1937 bombing raid and the two make plans to find each other 10 years later, only to have their reunion in devastated postwar Shanghai elaborately and often hilariously complicated by intervening fate. An incredibly tender and terribly funny film, with Cantopop diva Sally Yeh giving a particularly inspired turn as Chang’s scatterbrained roommate.

The 4K restoration of Shanghai Blues was supervised from the original negative by Tsui Hark with L’Immagine Ritrovata and the soundtrack remixed by One Cool Sound.

A Film Movement release