Stanley Kwan

Stanley Kwan (关锦鹏; born October 9, 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. He is a director and producer, known for Rouge (1987), Lan Yu (2001) and Yue kuai le, yue duo luo (1998). Kwan got a job at the TVB after graduating from Hong Kong Baptist College with a degree in public communications. Women (1985), starring Chow Yun-fat, was Kwan’s first film, and it was a box office hit. Kwan’s films are frequently sympathetic to women’s plights and battles with romantic affairs of the heart. Typical Kwan films include Rouge (1987), Full Moon in New York (1989), Center Stage (1992; a.k.a. Actress), a biopic on silent cinema star Ruan Lingyu, and Everlasting Regret (2005). The film Red Rose White Rose (1994) is based on an Eileen Chang novel. The 45th Berlin International Picture Festival accepted the film. At the 48th Berlin International Picture Festival, his film Hold You Tight earned the Alfred Bauer Prize and the Teddy Award. In 1996, Kwan came out as gay in his documentary Yang Yin, which examined the history of Chinese-language film through the lens of gender norms and sexuality. He’s one of Asia’s few out gay directors, and one of the few who’s worked on these subjects. Lan Yu (2001) is an adaptation of a gay love tale that was first published on the Internet.

Stanley Kwan Filmography

Poster for the movie "First Night Nerves"

First Night Nerves

Yuan Xiuling, a former star and has-been actress plans to return to the spotlight of the theater a year after her philandering husband died. She decides to star in Two Sisters, written and directed by transwoman An Ouyang. But, her biggest rival, He Yuwen, a rising actress, also stars in the play. Yuwen plans her theatrical debut through it. During the preparation of the play, such a drama unfolds at the backstage as much as … Read more

Poster for the movie "Center Stage"

Center Stage

Based on the tragic true story of China’s first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu, chronicling her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during the 1930s. *** International superstar Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love) embodies tragic screen siren Ruan Lingyu, known as the “Greta Garbo of China,” in this unconventional biopic by Hong Kong New Wave master Stanley Kwan (Rouge). Praised for her moving and emotive onscreen presence, … Read more

Poster for the movie "Love Unto Wastes"

Love Unto Wastes

Four young people spend their time living the wild life – until one of them is brutally murdered in a burglary. The survivors come under the scrutiny of an eccentric cop, and their underlying fears and regrets slowly but surely emerge.

Poster for the movie "Full Moon in New York"

Full Moon in New York

Three Chinese women with vastly different backgrounds get acquainted and become friends amid the social desolation of New York.

Poster for the movie "Hold You Tight"

Hold You Tight

Two women are bound for the same plane, one of whom makes the flight while the other does not. In a cruel twist of fate, the plane crashes, killing everyone on board, and leaving the friends and family of the two women to talk about what was and what could have been.

Poster for the movie "Red Rose White Rose"

Red Rose White Rose

Chronicles the love life of a man, Zhenbao. He has a steamy fling with the wife of a friend, the saucy and exciting Red Rose. Even though he feels happy with her, he knows he will not end up with her. To maintain his reputation, he marries an antiseptic, frigid but classy lady of a prim and proper background (White rose). Dissonance abound when he finds his bride irritating.

Poster for the movie "Everlasting Regret"

Everlasting Regret

a film adaptation of Wang Anyi’s popular and influential novel Changhen Ge.A person’s life is destined to be shorter than that of a city. Having spent her whole life in Shanghai, Qiyao has her moments of prosperity and her fair share of loneliness. She finally fades and disappears but Shanghai remains a metropolitan city. Shanghai in the 1930s is glamorous and seductive. A pretty young girl from an ordinary family, Qiyao is lucky enough to … Read more

Poster for the movie "Showtime"

Showtime

Shanghai, 2009. After four years of studying, a group of dance students are wished well by their teacher as they start rehearsals for their graduation performance. Meanwhile, 5 members of a 1936 Shanghai theatre troupe, lead by Master Liu, are transported into the present to broaden their horizons.

Poster for the movie "Lan Yu"

Lan Yu

A love story between a country boy in Beijing to study and a wealthy businessman set against the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident

Poster for the movie "The Island Tales"

The Island Tales

A group of disparate characters find themselves trapped overnight on a island somewhere off the coast of mainland China. The circumstances force them to overlook their preconceptions of one another, and they forge a kinship that goes to the heart their identities.