Chen Kaige’s sweeping, deeply moving epic – one of the most acclaimed, yet rarely screened, films of the ‘90s – is presented in a new 4K restoration. Beginning in 1924, the story follows the intertwined lives of two Peking opera performers, Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi). Raised and trained together in the rigorous and often brutal world of the opera, the two develop an intense, complex bond. Dieyi, who specialises in female roles, embodies the tragic spirit of the opera’s heroines, while Xiaolou plays the masculine warrior figures. Dieyi harbours deep, unspoken feelings for Xiaolou, but his love remains unreciprocated when Xiaolou marries a courtesan, Juxian (Gong Li).

Notes by David O’Mahony.