Peking Opera Blues (1986) is a rollicking action-adventure comedy-drama, critically regarded as one of the best Hong Kong movies from the 1980s. In the first ten to fifteen minutes, the film might feel overwhelming with all of the characters who are introduced and establishing the 1910s socio-political atmosphere in China. As Peking Opera Blues proceeds, there’s a satisfying narrative momentum as the main trio of femmes become connected and eventually friends. With the historical setting, director Tsui Hark and his collaborators pay tribute not just to peking opera as a form of theatre and live entertainment, but also to the cinema of yesteryear. This is a film about a spy searching for important documents, candlelit skullduggery in mansions, a thief chasing important loot, family melodrama, love triangles, revenge, shoot-outs, rescues and escapes, comedy hijinks, beautiful costumes and big set-pieces.
You’ve also got a couple of bad guy characters rocking obviously fake facial hair right of high school theatre, and wild tonal shifts so that someone like the authority father figure played by Kenneth Tsang can act like a lecherous creep in one sequence, and then share sincere emotional scenes with his secretly deceptive daughter. A winning aspect of Peking Opera Blues is the three female stars, including Sally Yeh (from The Killer) as the stagehand who aspires to be an actor in her father’s theatrical company (women were forbidden to act in Peking Opera), Cherie Chung as the scampish thief who provides the comic relief, and Brigitte Lin (from Chungking Express) as the educated governor’s daughter who is a secret spy for rebellion forces, and has the coolest look with her masc-haircut and fancy suits.
A handsomely mounted production with spectacular action sequences and characters you get invested in. I was hooked and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Also features some great pop tunes performed by Sally Yeh, and the climactic rooftop sequence has this fantastic motorik beat score to it. Great remastered version available to stream on Tubi.
VHS Tracking 