胭脂扣 (aka Rouge) (1987)

Set in 1934, a humble courtesan (Anita Mui) and the son (Leslie Cheung) of a wealthy family embrace a suicide pact after his family rejects her as a possible wife. Jump some 50 years later and the courtesan's ghost comes looking for her lover. Based on the novel by Lilian Lee and directed by Stanley Kwan (CENTER STAGE). Despite its gorgeous imagery courtesy of cinematographer Bill Wong, I just couldn't get into this supernatural ghostly romance. I've never found double suicides particularly romantic (no, not even in ROMEO AND JULIET) and Kwan's tale of a beautiful ghost searching the streets of contemporary Hong Kong for her long ago lover didn't resonate with me. The mundane contemporary couple (Alex Man, Emily Chu) that assist the courtesan in finding her lover are offered as a more practical romantic liaison but pale against the exoticism of the doomed lovers from the past. With Irene Wan and Sin Hung Tam.