Brigitte Lin’s first gender-neutral role, Sally Yeh’s butch Beijing Opera performer make Tsui Hark’s 1986 period comedy Peking Opera Blues highly enjoyable

Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s 1986 film Peking Opera Blues, set in the Chinese Republic era, put women in the spotlight and challenged gender stereotypes

With Brigitte Lin cross-dressing as a warlord’s daughter, Sally Yeh as a ‘butch’ Beijing Opera performer and Tony Ching action sequences it’s an enjoyable caper

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Peking Opera Blues starring Brigitte Lin remains an enjoyable tale of espionage, Chinese opera and gender bending. Mark Cheng (left) and Brigitte Lin in a still from Peking Opera Blues. Photo: Peking Opera Blues

Published: 6:15am, 24 Jul 2022

Thirty six years after it was released, Tsui Hark’s lively Peking Opera Blues (1986) remains one of his most enjoyable movies.

A mix of action, comedy and light drama, the film follows the exploits of three women in 1913, the second year of the Chinese Republic. Although it’s set amid the chaotic politics of the time, the political shenanigans simply serve as the backdrop for an entertaining caper movie which is heavy on stylistics and light on message.

“Tsui’s marvellous mise-en-scène and the exuberance of the action are the highlights of the movie,” writes film academic Stephen Teo. “All the sensory elements seem perfectly designed and, for once, the viewer feels like the director has achieved a fine balance.”

The story, neatly crafted by acclaimed playwright Raymond To Kwok-wai, is a fictional tale set amid the real-life events of 1913.

Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia, in the first of her gender-bending roles, plays the daughter of a philandering warlord general. Her father is working to raise money for a plot that will overthrow the Republic and establish Yuan Shikai – previously the commander of the armed forces under the Qing dynasty – as the new emperor.