Shanghai Triad

UPC: 043396118577

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: Country boy Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao) is brought to 1930s Shanghai by his uncle who wants the boy to become a member of the powerful gang ruled by manipulative Tang (Li Baotian). In fact, Shuisheng will serve Tang's capricious mistress Bijou (Gong Li), a nightclub singer whom the boss proclaimed "the Queen of Shanghai." When the boy's uncle and the gang's several other members die during a rival gang's unsuccessful attempt on Tang's life, the latter retreats to a remote small island, taking both Bijou and Shuisheng with him and thinking of revenge. The film's English-language title is a little bit deceiving (the original Chinese title translates to "Row, Row, Row to Grandmother's Bridge," a line in Tang's favorite song performed by Bijou), as this drama centers more on the boy's coming of age and Bijou's disillusionment than on Shanghai gang wars. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Cinematography – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Grand Technical Prize – Cannes Film Festival Best Foreign Language Film – null Best Foreign Film – National Board of Review Best Cinematography – New York Film Critics Circle Film Presented – Telluride Film Festival Best Foreign Language Film – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Digitally mastered audio and anamorphic video
Widescreen presentation
Original language: Chinese [Mandarin]
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Theatrical trailers
Talent files
Interactive menus
Production notes
Scene selections

Shanghai Triad

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 12/12/2000

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD Dolby Digital

Runtime: 107 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Scene Selections
0. Scene Selections
1. Start. [3:14]
2. First Day. [5:44]
3. The Boss's Club. [1:30]
4. The Queen of Shanghai. [2:35]
5. Xiao's Dressing Room. [15:00]
6. Bumpkin at her Door. [2:01]
7. Xiao's House. [2:48]
8. Tryst. [3:33]
9. Second Day. [4:18]
10. A Song for Mr. Yu. [2:37]
11. Tantrum. [2:22]
12. Third Day. [3:40]
13. Massacre. [4:13]
14. Fourth Day. [5:49]
15. Fifth Day. [1:03]
16. Ajiao. [4:36]
17. Uninvited Guest. [2:38]
18. Sixth Day. [4:31]
19. Two Bumpkins. [3:53]
20. A Chat with Cuihua. [6:29]
21. Seventh Day. [1:40]
22. Visitors. [1:41]
23. Overheard. [1:57]
24. Warning. [2:17]
25. The Boss Explains. [3:44]
26. Promises. [3:37]
27. Setting the Score. [2:39]
28. Last Wish. [7:14]

Michael Costello

Zhang Yimou's final film with actress Gong Li is a lushly photographed evocation of the wide-open Shanghai of the 1930s, but remains gauzily incoherent. Narrated by a rustic 14-year old boy (Wang Xiao Xiao) who has been hired as a servant for the beautiful, vixenish chanteuse/gangster's moll played by Li, the film follows her glittering underworld life as she comes to realize the limits of her freedom. Unfortunately, neither her story nor the film's other thread about the gang wars of the time are very clear since we see everything from the boy's rather fragmentary perspective. Yimou seems to intend Li's seeming embrace of a more rural life at the film's conclusion as a kind of spiritual reawakening, but after knowing the cruelty of which she's capable, this sudden transformation is less than persuasive. As usual, Zhang Yimou's gorgeous camerawork has made this seedy milieu more hypnotically beautiful that it ever could have been, and the presence of the stunning Li doesn't hurt. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Chen Shu  Actor 
Jean-Louis Piel  Producer 
Zhang Yimou  Director 
Yves Marmion  Producer 
Wu Yigong  Producer 
Bi Feiyu  Screenwriter 
Gong Li  Actor 
Li Baotian  Actor 
Li Xuejian  Actor 
Sun Chun  Actor 
Wang Xiaoxiao  Actor 
Jiang Baoying  Actor 

Country: China,France