Shanghai Triad

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Shanghai Triad

R

1995

1h 48m

Crime

Drama

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Popcornmeter

90%

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29 Reviews

71%

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2,500+ Ratings

When teenager Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao Cuihua) arrives to Shanghai from the country, he is brought by his uncle (Li Xuejian) to work for gang leader Tang (Baotian Li). Tang assigns Shuisheng to aid his girlfriend Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li), a nightclub singer. After a rival gang kills some of Tang's men, he takes Shuisheng and Jinbao to an island hideout. Here Jinbao forms a friendship with peasant Cuihau (Jiang Baoying), while Tang attempts to determine if there are traitors in his ranks.

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Critics Consensus

Well-acted and beautifully filmed, Shanghai Triad deftly depicts a young man's coming of age against the backdrop of mob violence and its punishing legacy.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

02/26/2018

A deep, powerful and rivetingly complex study of Tienanmen - and, ironically, it's far more evenhanded in its account of the massacre that killed more than a thousand protesters than the Chinese government might suspect.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

01/01/2000

2/4

Shanghai Triad plays like a movie in which some scenes are missing, and others have been stretched out to make up the difference.

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Mike Clark

USA Today

01/01/2000

4/4

Shanghai Triad concludes the sublime seven-movie collaboration of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and actress Gong Li with a bang worthy of the most jubilant New Year's Eve.

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

08/23/2022

3/4

Though autobiography may not have been Zhang Yimou's intention with Shanghai Triad, it's hard not to see the film as a form of self-critique, not least because Boss may be ruthless, but he's also clever, charismatic, and perceptive...

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Wilson Kwong

VCinema

02/12/2022

In the end, Shanghai Triad isnt the most complex or nuanced film out of Zhangs varied filmography, but it still manages to be a layered examination of the triad world.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

08/16/2020

3/4

A typically formidable performance by Gong Li .

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jul 1

Success in 1 hour and 48 minutes.

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Alec B

@Alec97 02/21/2024

The tragedy of the ending is hurt by the meandering narrative that precedes it (I do like the nightclub scenes but I think they should have added a lot more character focused material to balance this out) which is a shame because the cinematography and set/costume designs are exquisite.

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07/19/2022

The tragedy of the ending is hurt by the meandering narrative that precedes it (I do like the nightclub scenes but I think they should have added a lot more character focused material to balance this out) which is a shame because the cinematography and set/costume designs are exquisite.

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peter w

11/12/2021

We get an interesting perspective of 1930s gangland Shanghai through the eyes of the servant, Shuisheng, and the godfather's lover, Bijou, and it is far from complimentary. Shuisheng sees the wanton violence of the gang, and Bijou tries to stare down the godfather who objectifies her as an ornament. Many films romanticize gangster power dynamics but Zhang Yimou choses instead to turn a critical eye against it from characters outside of, but critical to the performance of, the power brokers.

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10/20/2016

Sumptuous period piece - but director Zhang Yimou can't seem to settle on which story to tell: the coming of age of the boy Shuisheng or the humanization of his "Miss" Bijou. Zhang's stumblebum Shanghai mob just gets in the way.

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05/21/2015

Depressing but visually poetic film.

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Yimou Zhang

Director

Gong Li

Xiao Jingbao

Baotian Li

Tang

Li Xuejian

Liu

Chun Sun

Song

Wang Xiaoxiao Cuihua

Shuisheng

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Synopsis

When teenager Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao Cuihua) arrives to Shanghai from the country, he is brought by his uncle (Li Xuejian) to work for gang leader Tang (Baotian Li). Tang assigns Shuisheng to aid his girlfriend Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li), a nightclub singer. After a rival gang kills some of Tang's men, he takes Shuisheng and Jinbao to an island hideout. Here Jinbao forms a friendship with peasant Cuihau (Jiang Baoying), while Tang attempts to determine if there are traitors in his ranks.

Director: Yimou Zhang
Producer: Yves Marmion, Jean-Louis Piel, Yigong Wu
Screenwriter: Bi Feiyu, Li Xiao
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: La Sept Cinéma, Alpha Films, UGC, Shanghai Film Studio
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 22, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 7, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.1M
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Surround

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