The Phantom Lover
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| The Phantom Lover | |
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| Directed by | Ronnie Yu |
| Produced by | Leslie Cheung Michael Ng Bak-Ming Wong |
| Written by | Roy Szeto Bak-Ming Wong Ronnie Yu |
| Starring | Leslie Cheung Jacqueline Wu Lei Huang |
| Release date(s) | 1995 |
| Running time | 100 min |
| Language | Mandarin |
| IMDb profile | |
The Phantom Lover is a 1995 Hong Kong film starring Leslie Cheung and Jacqueline Wu. It was directed by Ronnie Yu and was basically a loose adaptation of the classic Romeo and Juliet romance where love between two passionate lovers were ultimately doomed when parental opposition was the major obstacle. The main theme of the film was, however, a strong adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera. The film's language is entirely in Mandarin.
[edit] Plot Line
The film was set in China in the 1940s. Song Dan Ping (Leslie Cheung) was an ambitious theatre actor and owner who built his dream magnificent playhouse from where he entertained and dazzled the theatre-loving populace with his adaptation of classics such as Romeo and Juliet and other tragic love stories.
His passionate and devoted performances however drew the attention of the beautiful daughter of a corrupt and despotic official named To Wan-Yin (Jacqueline Wu). They arranged to meet secretly after every performance and their love deepened to the extent that they vowed to run away from the city and to get married elsewhere. Wan-Yin was bethrothed to a man whom she does not love and was reputed to be cruel and sadistic and this persuaded her to throw caution to the wind and run away from home with the man she only truly loves. It also turned out that Wan-Yin's father arranged the marriage ( as was the custom of China at that time) in favor himself as he sought to ally with another official of great influence to improve his social standing.
As fate dictates, the eloping couple were caught before the plan came to fruition and Wan-Yin's maid was forcefully beaten until she was paralysed and this horrified Wan-Yin who became delirious and senile. However, Song Dan Ping was to bear the brunt of Wan-Yin's father and fiancee's wrath as his beloved theatre was set on fire but not before scalding the actor's face with strong corrosive acid. The theatre burnt to the ground and a hallowed shell was all that remained. Wan-Yin soon lost all her senses and does not seem to recognise anyone around her anymore as she grew more pre-occupied with her thoughts.
Many years later, a group of performing arts students came from Beijing to perform in the city where Song performed, eager to adapt his exploits and to improvise on his legendary performances. They came to the theatre hall, with its outer foundations still intact but with the internal sections terribly destroyed, and made their temporary quarters there. Many people believed Song to have perished in the fire but he was indeed still living as the students made their home in his theatre.
Song, however, was badly scarred in the face and was never to reveal his once-handsome face to the outside world and earned the nickname 'The Phantom lover' by his once-loving audience. His personality was also changed as he was severely depressed and morose after the tragic incidents and lived the life of a hermit. When the students came, he was slightly encouraged to reveal himself when one of the more talented students tried unsuccessfully to sing his ultimate love serenade whom he dedicated to Wan-Yin. Song later lashed out at the students' incompetence when he could no longer bear such disparaging performances of his efforts and decided to reveal himself and his scarred face to them.
When the officials heard that the students tried to popularise Song in their theatre performances and reenacting his glory days, they came to arrest the students. Little did they know that their evil deeds were exposed to the public who came for the performances and one by one, the accomplices to the plot to burn down the theatre was also forced to make a detailed confession. Justice was finally achieved but only as a hollow victory on Song's part. In the closing moments, Song was seen holding his lover's hands who has since became an invalid. Whether or not Wan-Yin recognised her lover was intangibly depicted but viewers may guess that the ending was bittersweet as they are reunited at last but at a very steep cost to both their lives.
The film's theme song was composed and sung by Leslie Cheung entitled 夜半歌声 'The Phantom Lover' also featured in his album 宠爱 Most Beloved. Another individual song popularised by this film is 一辈子失去了你 ' Losing You Forever' also found in the same album. The film's excellent Western-influenced score was composed by Chris Babida.
