Please don't spend money on this.

Instant Favorite.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This was an interesting movie. This is a tale of tragic romance, where the male character is an emotional wreck (due to him being a slave for his sister and her husband, who also forces him to have a little experience with incest), and the female character is living her day in an opium cloud. The acting from the main actors is top notch, namely Leslie Cheung and Li Gong, who always seem to deliver in every movie I have seen them in (Li Gong struggles a bit in her English speaking roles, and it does take something away from her performance in those movies, I must admit). Li Gong usually plays an intelligent character, but here she is an opium addict, so it is definitely different seeing her looking all confused and dumbfounded all the time. The cinematography was spectacular, as it usually is when Christopher Doyle is in charge. The lighting and camera angles reminded me a little of David Lynch, and I believe it was done this way in order for you to see the world like you had smoked opium, just like the characters. You should see the movie for the acting, cinematography and camera work alone.The main critique of the movie seems to be that it is very hard to follow the plot and figure out who is who. I agree with this. It gets established 40 min or so into the movie, but you could be tempted to turn off the movie before that because it is so confusing. But once it gets established who is who, and what they want, the plot becomes a lot better, and I became very involved in the movie.

I decided to purchase Temptress Moon after viewing the breathtaking, and devastating, Farewell My Concubine. Both movies feature the amazing talents of Gong Li and Leslie Cheung. So total is their transformation between the two films, it's difficult to believe that these are the same actors. While Concubine served as a historical epic, Temptress Moon seemed more along the lines of Shakespearean tragedy. Like Kaige's previous work, the characters' frustrations signify larger themes: domestic turmoil; gender repression; class conflict; etc. Although these themes concern the private sphere of life and are not as overtly political as those addressed in Concubine, they are just as much about power, its abuse and the resulting disfigurement of the human spirit.Temptress Moon is by no means a romance. The movie succeeds in being lyrical and melancholy - more engrossing than entertaining. Despite the requisite tragic ending, I found the plot to be oddly satisfying! The waxing and waning fates of Zhongliang, Ruyi, and Duanwu intertwined to create a luminous study of the heart and its insatiable hunger.Overall, Temptress Moon was a clear reflection of the obsessions that ruthlessly dictate interpersonal affairs. Leslie Cheung, Gong Li and Kevin Lin give mesmerizing performances while supporting portrayals like that of Caifei He as Zhongliang's sister and Yin Tse as Zhongliang's Boss are equally flawless. (Among the movie's many moral messages: "Don't Do Drugs!" :)

Another exorcism by Chinese master Chen Kaige (who directed "Farewell My Concubine" three years earlier), of China's disastrous meltdown in the early 20th Century. An old landed family sinks into decadence as the Qing dynasty collapses and the chaotic early years of a Chinese republic swirl around their ghostly ancestral hall and mansion gardens.Into this scene returns an extended-family member, Zhongliang (played by Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung), ostensibly to position himself for his Shanghai gang's takeover of the estates. But Zhongliang's return home awakens old wounds and rips open all new ones in a family reeling from generations of drug use and the collapse of an ancient civilization.Cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters, then become embroiled in a sick game of love, lust, and revenge. This is a very sobering film yet hauntingly beautiful at times. All performances, from a radiant Gong Li, down to the smallest roles, are superb. The character development is profound, the story compelling, and the production values are stunning. A first rate movie.

Such a good movie with great plot and impressive visuality. Each shot is like a photograph and very beautiful, too. Story of Chinese traditions and a fervid love triangle. This is a movie of strong characters against tradition and each other and love. Gong Li and Leslie Cheung are among my favorite actors and actresses and they become a magical couple in the same movie. A must see...