"Feng Yue (Temptress Moon)"

by Lisa Nesselson

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I'll come right out and admit that I didn't completely understand the full implications of this one until I read the synopsis in the press kit the following day. I saw the film with French subtitles and several colleagues who screened it with English subtitles reported the same problem, so it's probably safe to assume that the film's construction is a little murky. In retropect -- now that I know who's who -- I think it's a pretty good examination of thwarted love and warped ambitions set at a crucial time in Chinese history. But, in addition to the lovely Gong Li and the equally lovely Leslie Cheung, a scorecard might be nice.