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 date(s)	October 28, 2004 (2004-10-28)
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

• Teresa Cheung as Meili. Yonfan has stated that Cheung was his inspiration for the film, although the character was not directly based on her personality.^[5] A first time actress, Cheung was initially reluctant to perform the nude and sexual scenes,^[8] but has defended the film's artistic qualities.^[2][9]
• Keiko Matsuzaka as Madam Umeki. Regarded by Yonfan as one of his cinematic idols, Matsuzaka has said that Colour Blossoms was her most demanding film.^[2]
• Harisu as young Madam Umeki. Like the character she plays in the film, Harisu is also transgendered.
• Carl Ng as 4708. Ng was originally approached to play the role of Kim, but after reading the script "fell in love with the cop 4708".^[10] The character has no dialogue in the film, instead relying on gestures and movement, something Ng recognized as a challenge.^[2]
• Sho Yokouchi as Kim. A former male model with no previous acting experience, Yokouchi had great difficulty with the film, admitting that he "just couldn't grasp the meaning."^[11] As a result he has since stated that he will never make another film, believing he is not suited to the work.^[1][2] Credited in the film as Sho.

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 October 27, 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 criticizing 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:

• 25th Hong Kong Film Awards (2005)^[26]
  • Best New Performer — Teresa Cheung
  • Best Art Direction — Man Lim Chung
  • Best Costume & Make Up Design — Yonfan, Ho Tsz Leung
  • Best Original Film Score — Surender Sodhi
• Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards (2005)^[6]
  • Best Actress — Teresa Cheung

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b c} Alison Dyer, "A View from Hong Kong ... Colour Blossoms press event and premiere", Hong Kong Entertainment News In Review, December 7, 2004. Retrieved on February 17, 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} 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 November 14, 2006.
4. ^ Alison Dyer, "A View from Hong Kong ... Colour Blossoms press event and premiere", Hong Kong Entertainment News In Review, December 7, 2004. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
5. ^ ^{a b c} "Chanel No.5?", bc Magazine, 2005. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Alexandra A. Seno , "A filmmaker bucks Hong Kong trends", International Herald Tribune, February 7, 2005. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
7. ^ ^{a b} 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 August 12, 2005. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
8. ^ "Films energise me, says ‘promising star’", The Hindu, December 4, 2005. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
9. ^ ^{a b} "Yon Fan's controversial Colour Blossoms to premier", Xinhuanet, October 27, 2004. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
10. ^ Alvin Tan, "Closer to Carl", Fridae, March 24, 2005. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
11. ^ "Extreme dreamboat", The Electric New Paper, October 19, 2005. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
12. ^ Hong Kong Box Office, October 28–November 3, 2004, Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
13. ^ ^{a b} Colour Blossoms, Hong Kong Film Archive. Retrieved on February 17, 2007.
14. ^ Release dates for Toh sik, IMDb. Retrieved on February 17, 2007.
15. ^ Panorama 2005: Tao Se (Colour Blossoms), Berlinale. Retrieved on February 17, 2007.
16. ^ This Year's Films, 7th Cinemanila International Film Festival. Retrieved on February 17, 2007.
17. ^ Hollywood Reporter Busan International Film Festival to Feature Yonfan Retrospective 5 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-15
18. ^ Alison Wong, "Wilting: Colour Blossoms", Firecracker. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
19. ^ Kozo, Colour Blossoms review, LoveHKFilm.com, 2005. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
20. ^ Carl Davis, Colour Blossoms review, DVD Talk, May 18, 2005. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
21. ^ Fridae Movie Club - 22 March 2005, Fridae. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
22. ^ Bodhi Sarkar, Colour Blossoms review, DVDActive. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
23. ^ Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, IMDb. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
24. ^ Awards, 7th Cinemanila International Film Festival. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
25. ^ S.R. Ashok Kumar, "Spanish film bags award at Chennai festival", The Hindu. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
26. ^ The 25th Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.

External links

• Official Site
• Colour Blossoms at the Internet Movie Database
• Colour Blossoms at the Hong Kong Film Archive