Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Center Stage Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 24, 2021

Chances are probably at least pretty good that if you asked the average film fan who Ruan Lingyu was, they would answer with a somewhat blank stare and shrug their shoulders in the gestural version of "I have no friggin' idea". Chances are also probably at least pretty good that if they did know who Ruan Lingyu was, it was due to having seen Center Stage rather than any of Lingyu's actual films, since, sadly, the vast bulk of this now legendary Chinese actress' oeuvre has been deemed lost, though miracles do occur from time to time, as evidenced by the fact that one of Lingyu's most celebrated films, Love and Duty, which was considered lost at the time of Center Stage's production, actually turned up in Uruguay (of all places) a few years after Center Stage was released. Center Stage is a patently odd film from a structural standpoint, and certain of its conceits and/or artifices simply need to be accepted, even if some viewers may feel that the intentionally reflexive "meta" elements, which offer star Maggie Cheung and director Stanley Kwan, among many others, offering commentary on both Lingyu and the film they're making, actually interrupt the flow of the "narrative" which presents a somewhat more traditional biopic formula, albeit with some additionally disjunctive snippets of the real life Lingyu in some of her film roles. If the result is kind of unavoidably the cinematic equivalent of a patchwork quilt, it's often a rather arresting one, and the fact that Lingyu kind of shockingly committed suicide at the height of her fame, and before she had even turned 25, gives the film an undeniably bittersweet flavor.

Now, much more venerable and insightful folks like Jonathan Rosenbaum have already stated that Center Stage is among their favorite films, and so I'll just chalk up some of my misgivings about this film's structure to my own intellectual shortcomings, giving one of only several possible examples of my idiocy with regard to one of the segues. Center Stage begins with one of its "meta" moments, with the cast and crew discussing the real life Lingyu, albeit at least passingly in terms of then "contemporary" fame and fortune in the film industry. Actual stills and even snippets from Lingyu films, adorned with identifying subtitles, give Center Stage a proto-documentary feel virtually from the get go, but then soon enough, "dramatization" begins, though again as a kind of Asian cinematic equivalent of a Russian nesting doll, in that a scene from a Lingyu film is shown being filmed.

And here's where just one example of my confusion caused a moment of befuddlement: after a sequence showing Lingyu (Maggie Cheung) at a vanity, where she's clearly in a silent film, replete with what almost amounts to whiteface, the film then suddenly moves to a sequence without whiteface where Lingyu is part of a trio of characters all shouting at each other. For a moment, I frankly wasn't sure what was going on, assuming initially that this must be a "real life" incident, since Lingyu was no longer in whiteface and the characters were all more than vocal, but then it turned out it was part of the silent film shoot. It seems evident to me that Kwan wanted this kind of ambiguity, and it's interesting from an intellectual perspective, but I have to say for me personally this kind of approach repeatedly threw up obstacles to the storytelling.

Lingyu's story does get told, at least somewhat, with star-crossed love intersecting with stardom, and tragedy ultimately ensuing. And even within the real Lingyu's story, there was at least one incidence of an almost mind boggling "meta" aspect, in that one of her last films, New Women, was evidently a fictionalized account of the life of another Chinese actress, Ai Xia, who committed suicide in 1934. And in fact kind of spookily, some ascribe Lingyu's suicide to the vitriolic response New Women got in the press, since print media are not depicted as being overly honorable in New Women. All of this background information, while at times at least touched on in Center Stage, might have leant itself more clearly if not as "artistically" in a more straightforward documentary.

Center Stage Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Center Stage is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 (some archival clips are closer to Academy ratio). There's not even the typical generic "new HD remaster" verbiage that Film Movement sometimes includes in its insert booklets on this particular release, though both the press sheet accompanying my review disc and Film Movement's webpage devoted to the film state this was "digitally restored in 4K from the original negative". The results are often impressive, though there are a few anomalies along the way. On the plus side, the entire presentation has a nicely organic look, with a mostly tightly resolved grain structure, and appealing detail levels. The palette in the color sections is subtle but rather nicely suffused, and is especially evocative in its use of blues and purples. The black and white material offers secure contrast and some excellent fine detail levels. There are some signs of damage, including an almost liquid looking green stain on the right side of the frame during some of the production mastheads, and there's a curious flicker that afflicts the very bottom of the frame throughout the presentation. I initially thought this was some kind of effect tied to the subtitles, but if you turn the subtitles off, you can still spot it. There are also a few passing moments, often within otherwise fine looking sequences, where the picture quality degrades (see screenshot 19 for one example).

Center Stage Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I am once again kind of "cheating" on the audio specs listed above, since there is in fact only one LPCM 2.0 Mono track, which Film Movement lists as containing both Cantonese and Mandarin, and I'm frankly not expert enough in Chinese dialects to indicate which is being used when. Dialogue, whether in the "meta" production crew meetings or the dramatized elements, sounds fine throughout. Some of the archival video can show amplitude variances and slight fidelity wobbliness when compared to the bulk of the presentation. Optional English subtitles are available.

Center Stage Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Stanley Kwan 2021 Introduction (HD; 00:51) is a brief "hello" from the film's director, who mentions how lucky he was to get to make exactly the film he wanted to. In English.


• Stanley Kwan Interview (SD; 12:10) is an archival piece, and the first of two that is weirdly anamorphically squeezed. In what I'm assuming is Cantonese, with English subtitles.


• Paul Fonoroff Interview (SD; 13:36) is the second anamorphically squeezed archival piece. Onoroff is helpfully listed as "famous film critic", and he provides an overview of Linyu's life, work and tragic death. Fonoroff, additionally listed as a Hong Kong cinema expert on the back cover of this release, speaks in what I'm assuming is Cantonese, with English subtitles.


• Center Stage Trailer (HD; 1:58)

Trailers for other Film Movement Blu-ray releases are also included. As with most Film Movement releases, the disc also offers an About Film Movement option on the Main Menu which leads to text about and a trailer for Film Movement. The nicely appointed booklet contains an interesting essay by Aliza Ma.

Center Stage Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Center Stage is unabashedly audacious but I'm not entirely sure it's always effective. There are certainly cogent things this film has to say about Art imitating Life (and/or vice versa), but I just found the structure too repeatedly disjunctive to ever develop an emotional reaction, something that is kind of odd given how undeniably tragic Lingyu's story is. Still, this is a thought provoking attempt and it certainly gave Maggie Cheung a showcase while at the same time reminding more forgetful types about a long ago Chinese film legend. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements interesting. Recommended.