It’s Women Writers Week over on Ebert (Table of Contents), and I wrote about the biopic with which I measure all other biopics: Stanley Kwan’s Center Stage about the brief intense life of “the Chinese Greta Garbo,” silent film star Ruan Lingyu, with Maggie Cheung giving a brilliant performance as Ruan (she won Best Actress at the 1992 Berlinake).
I saw Center Stage in 1995 at the Music Box in Chicago and it has loomed in my mind ever since (since then, it’s been difficult to track down).
There’s now a gorgeous 4K restoration from the negative print and it’s screening at @metrograph starting today. Don’t miss it. For me it’s the high watermark of biopics. My essay – for Women Writers Week- is now up on Ebert.
