Hu-Du-Men

Hu-Du-Men is a rare film about Cantonese opera set in a contemporary setting, using the faded glory of the traditional art form to reference the changing Hong Kong society and the growing pain of the people at the turn of the millennium. Josephine Siao Fong-fong plays a renowned Cantonese opera actress specialising in male roles, who is joining—reluctantly—the 1990s emigration tide with her husband. Yet she remains passionate about opera and devotes much of her energy to the daily grind of troupe businesses. Bidding farewell to the stage is hard, but dealing with people around her is even tougher. She is haunted by her husband's failing business, the enigma of her daughter's sexual orientation and the return of an illegitimate son…Hudumen (tiger gate) is the imaginary entrance to the opera stage, marking the divide between the fictional and the real. Likewise, the film switches between the lives—on-stage and off—of an opera actress. Siao plays this challenging role to perfection, a charismatic stage artist leading the cast in one scene, an ordinary wife and mother in the next. In a rapidly changing world, Cantonese opera as well as a woman practitioner of the art form are striving to find balance at the juncture of social and cultural transitions.

Courtesy of Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Group

# Post-screening talk with Shu Kei

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