i reached school around 9 plus.. went straight to the video collection to search for "Farewell my concubine". it was tiring search... i found out there were "The Soong sisters", "Raise the red lantern" and "Centre Stage" and "Rouge", " The Shanghai Traid" . Those movies are critically acclaimed movies. okay half of those mentioned flims starrs Gong Li. I was about to borrow "Centre Stage" starring Maggie Cheung ( 2046 ,and the list goes on) Centre Stage somewhat intrigued me... It revolves around this Shanghainese old star Ruan Ling Yu. I've always been intrigued by Ruan Ling Yu. Somehow she always plays those tragic roles, even in her personal life, it always been so tragic that she committed suicide, haiz... i guess its better than you being insituitionlized like Zhou Xuan ( hrm... some 1930s Shanghainese star.. you could say that she's Ruan Lingyu's commrade.) and Viola! i spotted "farewell my concubine" Gong Li plays a prositute who became a wife of an opera actor, and the late Leslie Cheung plays a "hua dan" ( a person playing the female role in chinese opera), and this sets from Warlord China ( Yuan Shikai's era) to the Cultural Revolution. it tells the fate of two boys from this Peking Opera school. The somehow chinese flims, they managed to bring life to this dark period. Like Zhang Yimou's my father, my mother which flims sets in the midst of the C.R. he always manages to bring out life by using bright colors in the actor's costumes and sorts. And, the director of The Last Emperor, he manages to bring out the esscene of Joan Chen character as Emperess Wang Jing by wearing really bright Qing Dynasty clothes. Chinese Directors are some how much more talented than their western counterparts. Hrm... maybe tml i'll go to school early to watch "Raise the Red lantern" or "Centre stage" hrm.. such a headache.. i can't be watching two flims.. that will take about 6 hrs.