Shanghai Blues 4K Restoration Review: Tsui Hark’s Exuberant Screwball Romantic Comedy Classic
It’s like reliving the good old days, rewatching Shanghai Blues. Only this time, in a brand-new 4K restoration glory. First premiered at last year’s Cannes Classics, Tsui Hark oversaw the restoration using the original negative with the help of Italy-based film restoration company L’Immagine Ritrovata, while One Cool Sound was in charge of the post-production sound mixing.
The result? The restored version looks amazingly gorgeous with everything from the colour grading to lighting, shadows and sound significantly enhanced. Earlier scenes like Tung (Kenny Bee) and Shu a.k.a. Skinny Bags (Sylvia Chang) meet for the first time under the bridge amid the bombing attack, where their silhouettes contrasting against the fiery crimson orange engulfed the background is stunning to look at. No doubt L’Immagine Ritrovata and One Cool Sound did a great job in painstakingly elevating the sight and sound, making the newly restored Shanghai Blues a first-rate technical marvel.
Tsui even went as far as to re-record the dialogues in a mix of Mandarin, Shanghainese and Cantonese, unlike the original 1984 version, which was either spoken/dubbed in Cantonese or Mandarin. The mixed dialects are meant to preserve the authenticity that reflects the characters’ different backgrounds, namely Kenny Bee’s Tung, who speaks both Cantonese and Shanghainese. Bee himself returned to re-record his dialogues for the restored version while Tsui enlisted Zhang Anqi and Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants‘ (Sabrina) Zhuang Dafei to do dubbing for Sylvia Chang’s Shu and Sally Yeh’s Stool, respectively.
As much as I appreciate Tsui’s effort here, I still prefer the original Cantonese dialogues as they sound tonally better in capturing the irreverent vibe of the movie’s screwball romantic comedy. Beyond that, Shanghai Blues remains one of Tsui’s pivotal works during his early career in the 80s. That era alone saw Tsui has crossed over multiple genres from the cannibalistic action comedy We’re Going to Eat You (1980) to the bleak sociopolitical thriller Dangerous Encounter – 1st Kind (1980), zany comedies (1981’s All the Wrong Clues, 1984’s Aces Go Places – Our Man from Bond Street) and supernatural wuxia fantasy Zu: The Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), proving his versatility as an ambitious filmmaker.
Shanghai Blues was particularly a litmus test for Tsui and his co-partner Nansun Shi’s then-newly formed production company Film Workshop Co. Ltd., and their first film emerged as a critical and financial success, grossing over HK$11.6 million at the box office. The movie also scored nine Hong Kong Film Awards nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress, even though it went home empty-handed with Yim Ho’s Homecoming notching six wins that year.
Watching it again, the enduring popularity of Shanghai Blues lies in Tsui’s assured direction working from Chan Koon-Chung, Szeto Cheuk-Hon and Raymond To’s entertaining screenplay. Tsui’s comedic flair hits all the right notes here, from Tung’s Charlie Chaplin-esque, accident-prone moment revolving around a sousaphone in the crowded train station to the elaborate set piece that becomes the movie’s highlight. That set piece in question involves Tung, Shu, Stool and a thief in a Project A Part II-like moment, even though the Jackie Chan’s action-comedy sequel came out three years later, resulting in a hilarious series of misunderstandings.
The story, which takes place during post-war Shanghai, addresses the turmoil of the city suffering from economic instability and poverty, but Tsui balances the otherwise depressing subject matter with enough levity. A glimmer of hope, even with the struggling times back in the day, like the ever-optimistic Tung, believes he will someday reunite with Shu a decade after they first encounter each other under the bridge. The only problem is neither of them can see each other clearly because it was dark at the time, except for their voices.
Coincidence is a recurring theme that Tsui injected throughout the movie and how it shapes the romance, comedy and drama; notably, Tung happens to live upstairs while Shu and Stool are from downstairs in the same building. A good screwball romantic comedy wouldn’t be complete without raising the stakes and conflicts, evidently in Tung finds himself stuck in a love triangle between Shu and Stool. Chaos, jealousy and above all, mistaken identity ensue while all three primary actors play off each other well. For instance, renowned singer-actress Sally Yeh successfully captures Stool’s naivety and ditsy personality, striking a good contrast against Sylvia Chang’s more elegant and composed Shu.
