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This steamy period romance ranks as the first Hollywood-style, English language productions to emerge from China (Universal co-produced). Luo Yan (THE GIRL IN RED) produced, co-wrote, and stars as Madame Wu, an aristocrat trapped in a loveless marriage. It's 1938, and during her lavish 40th birthday party, Madame Wu decides to arrange for a much younger second wife, Chiuming (Yi Ding), to fill in as sexual provider for her infantile husband, thus freeing herself to pursue other interests. Of course nothing goes as planned and Madame Wu's rebellious son Fengmo (John Cho) falls in love with Chiuming instead. Madame Wu also finds herself falling in love, with Andre (Willem Dafoe), an American missionary who runs an orphanage and tutors Fengmo. As these romances flame up in the face of China's old-world traditions, other disrupting factors come into play, such as the arrival of electricity, the gathering influence of the communists, and the catastrophic invasion of the Japanese. It's all directed with plenty of operatic sweep by Yim Ho (THE DAY THE SUN TURNED COLD), adapted from the novel by Pearl S. Buck.
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