Center Stage
Wu Yuan | 12/25/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Center Stage re-enacts the short life of Ruan Lingyu, who was arguably the cinematic queen in the 20's to 30's. The half-documentary film, with an unrivaled performance by Maggie Cheung, stirred the memory of the sensational silent film actress, whose films are rarely watched by the current generation of audience.Ruan was a modern woman, yet still suffering from the weakness of her character, which eventually led to her suicide under the haunting of the malicious press. The man she loved betrayed her in distrust; her previous lover sold gossips to the press. She finally broke down in her no-exit fighting with "the mighty fear of the words" (from Ruan's will). Stanley Kwan and Maggie Cheung combined exquisitely in portraying the conflict between the stifling society and the rebellious yet weak character. The movie chose to switch alternatively between the past and the present. With some footages of Ruan's films and interviews with the cast and relevant people in the present, it provides a contrast of the ways that we see things in different times, inspiring people to linger and rethink of their lives. A superb movie, in which Maggie Cheung and Ruan Lingyu, the two divas of their own days, meet across the time, flawlessly."
Another great performances from Maggie Cheung
Gan S Libisono | Houston, TX United States | 01/30/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I like the movie much better because of Maggie Cheung's performance. It goes back forth among old footages, interviews with the actors and the movie itself. It's sort of a documentary film played by real actors. And again, it's hard not to like the movie especially with Maggie Cheung flawless performance. Two scenes that just convince me how great she is: First was when she was trying to re-create the scene from an old movie where she was supposed to die in bed. The cameraman continued to shoot her even when the director already said "cut." What we are allowed to see was how affected Maggie was with the whole scene -- she was still crying when her scene was supposed to be over.
Another one was when she came back from meeting her ex-lover, who was trying to blackmail her. She came out of the house to a mob of people who were ready to scold her because of the rumor that was spread by her ex-lover. One of the people made a cruel remark about her mother and she turned around and looked at that person with so much pain -- you would feel that the remark was made to you.
Maggie Cheung usually shines even more when she doesn't say a word. Her best performances are always the ones where she conveys her feelings through her expressions.
Highly recommended, if only to see one the greatest performance in a movie! I believe she won a best actress award in Berlin festival. Wonder when American audiences would finally find her."
A biography like no other
Maxim Voronov (mvor@conncoll.edu) | Connecticut College, USA | 08/04/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Maggie Cheung ("Heroic Trio", "Chinese Box", "Irma Vep") delivers one of her finest performances in this biography of Ruan Ling Yu, a silent film star. The film is a collage of actual surviving film footage, interviews with ruan's costars, the cast of the current film, and reenactments of important events in Ruan's life. Flawlessly directed by Stanley Kwan ("Rouge", "Red Rose, White Rose"), and goregeously photographed, this is a must see for everyone who appreciates films and for Maggie Cheung's fans."