Temptress Moon

Kaige Chen is known for his big budget historical production Farewell My Concubine which starred Gong Li, Temptress Moon (1997) is another such production. Li stars as the daughter, Ruyi. of a wealthy family (Pang) living outside of Shanghai, their family is infamous for their addiction to opium smoking, in fact her brother is incapacitated by it and is  a shell of himself so that when her father dies she becomes the de facto head of household. Meanwhile, the brother of her brother's wife Zhongliang (Leslie Cheung), who grew up on the estate, has fled to Shanghai from his duties as a servant to his sister and brother-in-law. In Shanghai he has joined a criminal gang and has become a seducer of rich women whom he black mails with his gang. He is sent by his gang boss to his former residence to seduce Ruyi and obtain some of the family's wealth. The plan fails when Zhongliang falls in love with Ruyi. The film is somewhat difficult to follow in the beginning which introduces the main characters as children, but he sumptuous periods sets and details are loving captured by the talented Christopher Doyle who cut his teeth on the romantic films of Wong Kar-wai, whose films of unrequited love this film resembles in tone and content.