Center Stage (Ruan Ling-Yu / Yuen Ling-yuk) - 1992 - Stanley Kwan (Director's Cut)

Title: Center Stage
Year: 1992
Original title: Ruan Ling-Yu | 阮玲玉
Runtime: 2 hours, 34 minutes
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese | Mandarin
Subtitles: English | Chinese (embedded vobsubs) & English (external srt)
Genre: Biography | Drama | Romance
Director: Stanley Kwan
Cast
Maggie Cheung ... Ruan Ling-yu and Herself
Han Chin ... Tang Chi-Shan
Tony Leung Ka Fai ... Tsai Chu-sheng / Himself
Carina Lau ... Lily Li / Herself
Waise Lee ... Li Min-wei
Li-li Li ... Herself
Lawrence Ng ... Chang Ta-Min
Cecilia Yip ... Lin Chu-Chu
Kelvin Wong ... Nier Erh
San Yip ... Ms Liu
Paul Chang ... Boss of Lianhua
Yanyan Chen ... Herself - Interview
Lingyu Ruan ... Herself (archive footage)
Extras
Interview with director Stanley Kwan
MKV | AVC | AAC | 12 min | 112 MB | 640 x 380
Interview with film critic Paul Fonoroff
MKV | AVC | AAC | 13 min | 142 MB | 634 x 480
Plot / Synopsis
The film describes the life, and the meteoric rise to fame, of young Shanghai actress Ruan Ling-yu who, from the age of 16 till her death at 24, was featured, often in a lead role, in over a dozen films. She was involved in extramarital affairs with two men, and eventually the double standards that women suffer by caught up with her, and dogged media slander ruined her reputation. With her honor at stake, she sees no recourse but to commit suicide, and does so with an overdose of barbiturates. According to the Wikipedia entry about her, "her funeral procession was reportedly three miles long, with three women committing suicide during it."