Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

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ltfontaine · #1 Post by **ltfontaine** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:55 pm

What is the quality of the Fortune Star edition of Stanley Kwan's "Centre Stage," released last year? The review at DVD Times is inconclusive on this point. Is this the best DVD edition of the film we're likely to see for awhile?

FilmFanSea · #2 Post by **FilmFanSea** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:39 pm

I researched this recently and purchased the Fortune Star just last week. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, or to compare it to the mediocre (and truncated) Deltamac version I also own.

I could've sworn DVD Beaver had done a comparison but, if so, I'm unable to locate it.

One word of caution: the Fortune Star release is somewhat difficult to find (not available or out of stock forever at YesAsia and DDDHouse). Of the Asian DVD sellers I regularly use, only HK Flix seems to stock it (albeit, fairly priced at $16.95 USD).

Miguel · #3 Post by **Miguel** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:33 pm

CD-WOW also has it: http://www8.cd-wow.us/detail_results_2. ... code=17503

FilmFanSea · #4 Post by **FilmFanSea** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:41 pm

Miguel wrote:CD-WOW also has it: http://www8.cd-wow.us/detail_results_2. ... code=17503

Thanks for that info--I never thought to check CD-WOW.

htdm · #5 Post by **htdm** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 4:06 am

The other option is the Korean DVD version which is a port of the HK Fortune Star disc (with a book on the life of Ruan Ling-yu in Korean).

John Cope · #6 Post by **John Cope** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 2:49 am

I would appreciate any help any of you can give me on this. Which edition is the best all around? I've been meaning to pick up a copy for quite awhile but have been frustrated by the lack of info I can find. I guess the most important question is which is most complete? I read somewhere that a Studio Canal edition was released last year and it was supposedly the most complete (whatever that means, given the troubled history of this film) but it only has French subs so that does me no good. Of the rest, which do you all recommend?

rockysds · #7 Post by **rockysds** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:51 pm

Fortune Star has just released a blu-ray of Center Stage. They also released a blu-ray of Rouge back in May.

andyli · #8 Post by **andyli** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:00 pm

A caveat for the uninitiated: Fortune Star blu-ray = garbage.

isadoraduncan · #9 Post by **isadoraduncan** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 9:11 pm

Oooh, can anyone elaborate on Fortune Star blu-rays being poor quality? I've wondered why it's been hard to find much feedback on the event of Rouge (such a visually incomparable film that I'm dying to find a good transfer of) being released on blu, but maybe that explains it.

hearthesilence · #10 Post by **hearthesilence** » Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:18 am

Pleasant surprised that Centre Stage has a new 4K restoration from the original negative ("approved by Stanley Kwan"). Michael Atkinson has a review (of the film, not the restoration) at the re-animated Village Voice.

The Metrograph has an exclusive run that will stream from March 12th through April 1st.

hearthesilence · #11 Post by **hearthesilence** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 10:18 am

This is from Film Movement's thread, but I'm quoting it here:

andyli wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:46 pm
There are at least two major cuts in Film Movement's new blu-ray of Center Stage, compared with the old Hong Kong blu-ray. The first cut is in the opening scene in the bathhouse, where the establishing shot is cut short to omit full frontal and back nudity of men walking past the camera. The second is more severe. About 1 hour and a half into the film, when Ruan is rehearsing her famous smoking scene alone in her room, there is an abrupt cut that eliminates a line from Tang ("What are you doing?"), Ruan blowing smoke to Tang's face, staring at Tang, and moving away from Tang, resulting in a jarring discontinuity.

A friend attending the Shanghai IFF showing told me at least the second cut is not present in the DCP. So it looks like a mistake solely on the part of Film Movement. Very disappointing.

These are very strange cuts - I'd almost expect it to be the other way around for the first one. (I don't recall male nudity being an issue in China, but given some of their cultural policies of late, I would've presumed a logical step in state censorship had it happened.) The second one is really bizarre. I doubt Film Movement has the budget to do anything if it's a mistake, but it may be worth contacting them regardless.

EDIT: Apparently BOTH edits were not present in the 4K DCP shown at the Shanghai IFF according to one present user in another forum, so the missing footage should be available in some version of the restoration somewhere.

#12 Post by **swo17** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:38 am

I've seen this before but wasn't familiar with The Goddess. Love & Duty, or The Peach Girl at the time, and now after the exquisite Rouge I'm eager to revisit it. Is the Fortune Star Blu-ray the best overall option, in light of the cuts to the Film Movement release described above? It sounds like it's probably a less than optimal release for other reasons

hearthesilence · #13 Post by **hearthesilence** » Fri Jul 22, 2022 12:51 pm

I kind of wish someone out there would demux both Blu-rays and splice in the missing bits. (I would but I don't have the Fortune Star disc or the know-how to do the splicing.)

andyli · #14 Post by **andyli** » Sun Jan 29, 2023 8:55 pm

The newly released TW Deltamac blu-ray of Center Stage is based on the same 4k restoration and indeed has the above mentioned two pieces of missing footage intact. But the overall image quality has been tampered with. There is apparently less grain and the contrast seems off. I notice that the same "filter" has been applied to their Rouge release which is vastly inferior to Criterion's treatment.

Comparison: Deltamac (above) vs. Film Movement (below)

Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

Re: Centre Stage (Kwan, 1992)

Re: Centre Stage (Kwan, 1992)

Re: Centre Stage (Kwan, 1992)

Re: Centre Stage (Kwan, 1992)

Re: Centre Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

Re: Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

Re: Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

Re: Center Stage (Stanley Kwan, 1992)