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Poster for Flowers of Shanghai
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Released
1998 · FILM

Flowers of Shanghai

Directed by
Hsiao Hsien Hou
Written by
Bangqing Han, Eileen Chang
Runtime
113 min
Language
ZH
DramaRomance
Streaming on
  • The Criterion Channel

Synopsis

At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai was divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” were reserved for the male elite of the city. Because Chinese dignitaries were not permitted to frequent brothels, these establishments became the only venues they could visit. They formed a self‑contained world with its own rites, traditions and language. The men visited the houses not only to see courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women who worked there were known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
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Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 21

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Ching Sung LiaoShot by Ping Bin LeeScored by Yoshihiro HannoDesigned by Wen Ying Huang

Also known as

  • Die Blumen von Schanghaide
  • Flowers of Shanghaide
  • Flowers of Shanghaien
  • Flores de shanghaies
  • Les Fleurs de Shanghaifr

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