This is a story about Shanghai, however, most of actors were from Hong Kong. And the director is also from Hong Kong, if I am not mistaken. So it certainly lacks the particular shanghai style.
The best part about this film was its furniture, settings, room decorations, music, hair styles, costumes, etc. Those all feel authentic, correlate well to the certain period of that time.
It is understandable that it is a hard to consolidate a person's entire life into a short film. However, it jumps from one period to another without any explanations. If a person knows nothing about the modern Chinese history, s/he will not be able to understand most of it. Some of the scenes were also confusing. For example, why did the protagonist's lover had to run away suddenly, etc?
Hopefully, maybe one day, some real Shanghai director will hire some real Shanghai actors to redo this film again with the real shanghai dialect.
The best part about this film was its furniture, settings, room decorations, music, hair styles, costumes, etc. Those all feel authentic, correlate well to the certain period of that time.
It is understandable that it is a hard to consolidate a person's entire life into a short film. However, it jumps from one period to another without any explanations. If a person knows nothing about the modern Chinese history, s/he will not be able to understand most of it. Some of the scenes were also confusing. For example, why did the protagonist's lover had to run away suddenly, etc?
Hopefully, maybe one day, some real Shanghai director will hire some real Shanghai actors to redo this film again with the real shanghai dialect.