1930, a Hong Kong brothel patronised by wealthy men. Fleur, a well-known courtesan, embarks on a passionate affair with one of her clients. When they announce their plan to get married, the young man’s family disapprove. The couple make a suicide pact promising to find each other in the afterworld… Mid-way between romance, ghost film and allegorical melodrama, “Kwan draws us into a process of fascination akin to an opiate sleep, peopled with subtly dreamlike visions” (Thierry Jousse). Rouge is a deeply paradoxical film, torn between the beauty of appearances and the burden of reality.
M.F.M.
