Purple Night

The clash between artistic ideals and business interests is a theme that runs through Cantonese films about showbiz. Likewise, in Purple Night , the success of Purple Swallow Song and Dance Troupe can be its own foe. Two matinee idols were joined by their female counterparts in the film's glittering line-up: Patrick Tse Yin's Lam Man-sing is a charming, talented but frustrated composer whose musical talent goes unrecognised. Kenneth Tsang Kong's troupe director represents the voice of intellectual conscience. Nam Hung played the daughter of Lam's mentor and Lam's childhood sweetheart. Josephine Siao Fong-fong played Tsi-yin (Purple Swallow), principal actress and the muse behind Lam's composition of ‘Purple Night', an instant hit which ironically marks the beginning of his loss of integrity and ultimately his downfall, as his ménage à trois comes unravelled at the seams and meets a tragic end. Propelled by a ceaseless energy, the sequence of song-and-dance scenes are designed to showcase Siao's flair for dancing with a theatricality that was the 1960s Cantonese cinema's answer to popular culture in the West. Director Chor Yuen furthered his ambitious vision by advocating the ideal of infusing traditional Chinese elements back into an overtly Westernised culture of musicals.

Date	Time	Venue
2/4/2017 (Sun)#	2:00pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

# Post-screening talk with Eric Tsang

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.