Two of the most renowned names in Asian filmmaking will be represented in Cinema Reborn’s 2026 programme.
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PEKING OPERA BLUES (Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 1986)
‘As a director and producer, [Tsui] Hark has emerged as the most influential figure of the [1980s], a virtuoso of high-speed narration and optical panache … at his best, as in the period comedy Peking Opera Blues, his interlocking machinery of cues and responses induces a euphoria in which one is happy to mistake the screen’s leaps and convolutions for a semblance of reality.’ – Geoffrey O’Brien, The New York Review of Books
Set in 1913, after the fall of China’s last imperial dynasty, Tsui Hark’s vibrant action-comedy follows three young women – a cross-dressing spy (Brigittte Lin), a musician and courtesan (Cherie Chung), and an aspiring actor (Sally Yeh) – who become entangled in a political conflict. Forming an alliance with a guerrilla fighter (Mark Cheng) and a disillusioned soldier (Cheung Kwok Keung), the group enacts a plan to protect the democracy of the fledgling Chinese Republic.
Showcasing Tsui at the exhilarating height of his powers, Peking Opera Blues is an enigmatic, richly layered and wildly entertaining opus that director Quentin Tarantino has declared ‘one of the greatest films ever made.’
Introduced by Dylan Cheung at Ritz Cinemas and Cecilia Tsan at Lido Cinemas.
Screens once only in each city. For links to each theatre’s
bookings and session times and to read superb programme notes by Rachel Ho Click here.
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THE WIFE OF SEISAKU (Yasuzō Masumura, Japan, 1965)
...And from Japan comes a film by the largely unknown director Yasuzo Masumura, a film which in critic Tony Rayns program notes advises us that, with the recent discovery of Masumura’s work and the restoration of his work being undertaken by his distributor Kadokawa The Wife of Seisaku (Seisaku no Tsuma) will soon be known as a 1960s’ classic.”
Set against the backdrop of the Russo-Japanese War and expressing a strong critique of militarism, Yasuzō Masumura’s piercing melodrama is a major work from a long-overlooked director. Wakao, who collaborated with Masumura on twenty films, is a particularly commanding presence, bringing a fierce intensity to the tightly controlled narrative.
Introduced by Jane Mills at Ritz Cinemas and Grant Watson at Lido Cinemas.
Co-presented by The Japan Foundation, Sydney.
Screens once only in each city. For links to each theatre’s bookings and session times and to read superb programme notes by eminent British critic and scholar of East Asian cinema, Tony Rayns Click here.
CHARITABLE DONATIONS
Since our inception supporters have continued to ensure that the annual season is able to present the very latest and very best international and Australian film restorations.
Tax deductible charitable donations have enabled us to keep our admission charges to regular Ritz and Lido prices (with the lowest student concessions of any similar film-related event). We have once again set up a page via the Australian Cultural Fund to receive donations of any size, large or small. You can find it IF YOU CLICK ON THIS LINK
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