Colour Blossoms

Colour Blossoms
Directed by Yonfan
Produced by Fruit Chan
Yonfan
Written by Yonfan
Starring Teresa Cheung
Keiko Matsuzaka
Harisu
Carl Ng
Sho Yokouchi
Music by Surender Sodhi
Cinematography Wang Yu
Distributed by Far Sun Film Co.
Release dates
 28 October 2004
Running time
 106 minutes
Country Hong Kong
Language Cantonese
English
Japanese
Budget HK$10 million

Colour Blossoms (桃色, Toh sik) is a 2004 Hong Kong art film written and directed by Yonfan, and the third in an informal trilogy of films inspired by Tang Xianzu's The Peony Pavilion. The original Chinese title of Colour Blossoms literally translates as "Peach Colour", a euphemism for sexual desire, one of the central themes in the film.[1]

Production

Yonfan began writing the script for Colour Blossoms in Venice, following the screening of his previous film, Breaking the Willow, at the Venice Film Festival.[2] He had all three lead actresses in mind from the outset,[3] in particular longtime friend Teresa Cheung for the part of Meili.[4][5] Despite being a Hong Kong production, the cast and crew of the film came from a number of Asian countries, with actors from Japan (Matsuzaka and Yokouchi) and Korea (Harisu), and a filmmaking crew from mainland China, led by cinematographer Wang Yu. For the film's score Yonfan travelled personally to India to find a local composer, eventually hiring the talents of Surender Sodhi, a veteran of the Indian film industry.[2]

Although Colour Blossoms had initially been planned as a low budget production, the actual cost ran to HK$10 million.[2] It was largely funded by Yonfan himself,[6] but financing problems resulted in an extended filming period of 13 months.[7] The film had difficulty attracting potential investors due to its risqué subject matter,[7] and a number of local actors had also been dissuaded from participating by their agents.[5]

Main cast

Reception

Prior to its release, Colour Blossoms received strong criticism from the Hong Kong media for its strong sexual themes and the involvement of lead actress Teresa Cheung, herself a controversial figure.[6] It premiered in Hong Kong on 27 October 2004,[1] and opened to the public the following day.[9] During its opening weekend it was the second highest-grossing film in Hong Kong,[12] but total box office earnings of HK$4,584,092 failed to recoup the film's budget.[6][13] Colour Blossoms also received a cinema release in both Singapore and Japan,[14] and was screened at a number of film festivals worldwide, including Berlinale,[15] Cinemanila,[16] and the Chicago International Film Festival.[13]

In 2011, the film was screened at the 16th Busan International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective of Yonfan's films, which featured seven of his restored and re-mastered films from the 1980s through 2000s.[17]

Critical response

The film has received a very mixed response from critics. In a particularly scathing review for Firecracker magazine, Alison Wong dismissed Colour Blossoms as "a sexual melting pot that is all style, little substance and virtually no chemistry", describing the S&M scenes as "almost laughable", and going on to say "that for all its lofty aspirations, the film has no driving purpose beyond attempting to titillate."[18] Another critic wrote that the film is "incredibly dense, emotionally cold, and moves at a glacial pace", and that "Everything looks and sounds absolutely stunning [but] it just doesn't make any sense."[19] Other negative reviews have nevertheless also praised the films visual aspects: Carl Davis at DVD Talk stated "There is no arguing that Colour Blossoms is a gorgeous looking movie", but that the director ultimately "gives us style over substance."[20] A review at Fridae.com called the film "an undeniable feast for the eyes", but added that it "also veers dangerously into campy excess and plain old weirdness" while criticising the "weak and unconvincing" characters and plot.[21] However, some critics have defended the film's artistic merit. In a review for DVDActive, Bodhi Sarkar described the film as "a profoundly mesmerising journey of human sensuality and spirituality", going on to add that the "poetic camerawork, luminous cinematography and Surender Sodhi's tranquilising soundtrack help create an enjoyable and thought provoking visual treat".[22]

Awards and nominations

Colour Blossoms has both won, and been nominated for, a number of awards.

It has won the following accolades:

Year Award Category – Recipient(s)
2005 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards[23] Film of Merit
2005 7th Cinemanila International Film Festival Awards[24] Tribute – Yonfan
Rising Star Award – Teresa Cheung
2005 2nd Chennai International Film Festival Awards[25] Most Promising Actress – Teresa Cheung

It has also been nominated for the following awards:

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 Alison Dyer, "A View from Hong Kong ... Colour Blossoms press event and premiere" at the Wayback Machine (archived 17 January 2006), Hong Kong Entertainment News in Review, 7 December 2004. Retrieved on 17 February 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Making of Colour Blossoms, featurette on Panorama Distributions (Hong Kong) 2xDVD release of Colour Blossoms, YesAsia Catalog No. 1003884463
  3. ↑ "Flesh for Fantasy", FiRST magazine, 2004. Retrieved on 14 November 2006.
  4. ↑ Alison Dyer, "A View from Hong Kong ... Colour Blossoms press event and premiere" at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 December 2004), Hong Kong Entertainment News in Review, 7 December 2004. Retrieved on 23 February 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 "Chanel No.5?" at the Wayback Machine (archived 21 October 2007), bc Magazine, 2005. Retrieved on 23 February 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Alexandra A. Seno , "A filmmaker bucks Hong Kong trends", International Herald Tribune, 7 February 2005. Retrieved on 14 February 2007.
  7. 1 2 Andrew C.C. Huang, "Retrospective of Hong Kong master Yonfan and his new movie Colour Blossoms", Art of Andrew C.C. Huang, originally printed in Taiwan News on 12 August 2005. Retrieved on 23 February 2007.
  8. ↑ "Films energise me, says ‘promising star’", The Hindu, 4 December 2005. Retrieved on 23 February 2007.
  9. 1 2 "Yon Fan's controversial Colour Blossoms to premier", Xinhuanet, 27 October 2004. Retrieved on 18 February 2007.
  10. ↑ Alvin Tan, "Closer to Carl", Fridae, 24 March 2005. Retrieved on 13 January 2007.
  11. ↑ Extreme dreamboat at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 January 2010), The Electric New Paper, 19 October 2005. Retrieved on 13 January 2007.
  12. ↑ Hong Kong Box Office, October 28 – November 3, 2004, Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 15 February 2007.
  13. 1 2 Colour Blossoms, Hong Kong Film Archive. Retrieved on 17 February 2007.
  14. ↑ Release dates for Toh sik, IMDb. Retrieved on 17 February 2007.
  15. ↑ Panorama 2005: Tao Se (Colour Blossoms), Berlinale. Retrieved on 17 February 2007.
  16. ↑ This Year's Films, 7th Cinemanila International Film Festival. Retrieved on 17 February 2007.
  17. ↑ Hollywood Reporter Busan International Film Festival to Feature Yonfan Retrospective 5 September 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2011
  18. ↑ Alison Wong, "Wilting: Colour Blossoms" at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 November 2007), Firecracker. Retrieved on 18 February 2007.
  19. ↑ Kozo, Colour Blossoms review, LoveHKFilm.com, 2005. Retrieved on 18 February 2007.
  20. ↑ Carl Davis, Colour Blossoms review, DVD Talk, 18 May 2005. Retrieved on 18 February 2007.
  21. ↑ Fridae Movie Club – 22 March 2005, Fridae. Retrieved on 18 February 2007.
  22. ↑ Bodhi Sarkar, Colour Blossoms review, DVDActive. Retrieved on 18 February 2007.
  23. ↑ Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, IMDb. Retrieved on 14 February 2007.
  24. ↑ Awards, 7th Cinemanila International Film Festival. Retrieved on 14 February 2007.
  25. ↑ S.R. Ashok Kumar, "Spanish film bags award at Chennai festival", The Hindu. Retrieved on 14 February 2007.
  26. ↑ The 25th Hong Kong Film Awards at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 May 2006). Retrieved on 14 February 2007.
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