The charms of an alluring prostitute are used as bait between feuding ganglords against a dramatic backdrop of 1930's Shanghai in this exotic and utterly captivating thriller. Award winner Zhang Yimou directs his enigmatic muse Gong Li in the latest in a long line of memorable collaborations (SORGHUM, JU DOU, RAISE THE RED LANTERN, THE STORY OF QUI JU and TO LIVE). "From the glowing artifice and warm surfaces of chic Shanghai to the natural blues and greens of the misty countryside where the tale leads, it is, in the truest sense, poetry in motion." (Jack Matthews, NEWSDAY)