Red Rose White Rose

Red Rose White Rose
Film poster
Directed byStanley Kwan
Screenplay byEdward Lam
Based on
Red Rose, White Rose
by Eileen Chang
Produced byWong Cheuk-hon
StarringJoan Chen
CinematographyChristopher Doyle
Edited byBrian Schwegmann
Chan Kong-Hiu
Music bySiu Chung
Production
companies
First Film Organisation
Golden Flare Films Co., Ltd.
Release date
  • 10 December 1994 (1994-12-10) (Hong Kong)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageMandarin

Red Rose White Rose (Chinese: 紅玫瑰白玫瑰; pinyin: Hóng méi guī bái méi guī) is a 1994 Hong Kong drama film directed by Stanley Kwan, based on the novella Red Rose, White Rose by Eileen Chang. It was entered into the 45th Berlin International Film Festival.

Plot

Set in 1930s and 1940s Shanghai, the film follows Tong Zhenbao (Winston Chao), a Western-educated Chinese man navigating between passion and propriety. After brief romances abroad with a Parisian prostitute and a Eurasian woman named Rose in England, Zhenbao returns to Shanghai and becomes a lodger in the home of his friend Wang Shihong.

Zhenbao begins a passionate affair with Wang Jiaorui (Joan Chen), his friend's wife, whom he thinks of as his "red rose." Despite his feelings for her, Zhenbao ends the relationship to preserve his reputation as a respectable man. He instead marries Meng Yanli (Veronica Yip), a refined and proper woman he considers his "white rose."

However, Zhenbao soon grows restless and irritated with his dutiful wife. After he discovers Yanli's secret affair with her tailor, she suffers a nervous breakdown but eventually recovers. The film concludes with Zhenbao encountering Jiaorui by chance on a streetcar years later, prompting him to reflect on his choices.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by First Film Organisation Limited with Wong Cheuk-hon (黃卓漢) serving as producer.

Release

Red Rose White Rose was released in Hong Kong on 10 December 1994 and was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1995. In the Philippines, the film was released exclusively at SM Megamall beginning on 5 May 1995.

References

  1. ↑ "Berlinale: 1995 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Red Rose White Rose". Hong Kong Movie Database. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  3. ↑ "Erotic Taiwanese film a hit in Asia". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. 23 April 1995. p. 23. Retrieved 2 June 2021.