Before Tsui Hark became synonymous with arthouse action films, his Hong Kong New Wave comedy “Shanghai Blues” helped put Tsui on the map. The auteur’s 1984 film is earning a long-overdue 4K restoration in honor of its 40th anniversary, as IndieWire can announce with the trailer.
“Shanghai Blues” is set in 1937 after The Second Sino-Japanese War starts. The film centers on a soldier and a young woman who have an awkward meet-cute under a bridge while seeking refuge from a bomb raid. Under the moonlight, neither can really see each other’s faces; yet, the both promise to meet again.
As the logline teases, “after 10 years pass, the soldier, now a burgeoning songwriter and tuba-player in a marching band, is back in town desperately searching for his would-be soulmate. As fate would have it they end up living in the same building unbeknownst to each other. Through a series of mishaps, he mistakes her new ingénue roommate for his love interest and wacky love triangle hijinks ensue.”
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Sylvia Chang, Kenny Bee, and Sally Yeh lead the film, which is co-written by Tsui and John Chan. The 4K restoration was supervised by Tsui from the original negative with L’Immagine Ritrovata, and the soundtrack was remixed by One Cool Sound.
Tsui famously challenged censorship restrictions with his films “Butterfly Murders” and “Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind.” He is best known for film series “Once Upon a Time in China” and “Detective Dee”; he remains of the highest-grossing filmmakers in Chinese-language cinema. His feature “The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D” later earned him the Best Director award at the Golden Rooster Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards. Tsui’s “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong” debuted at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and his adaptation of the classic Jin Yong novel “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” was released in 2025.
Tsui told IndieWire in 2011 that despite his global success, he has “always [had] a problem” reaching American audiences due to “the culture barrier, which becomes a separating factor, categorizing audiences.” He said at the time, “Some people may not be in the habit of watching movies in other languages. It takes time. When I made the movie I wanted to make it for everyone.” Tsui also teased a reunion with fellow director John Woo, saying, “We talk so much about it. We say, ‘let’s work together.’”
Film Movement will release “Shanghai Blues” in 4K June 20 in theaters, starting at Metrograph. The full list of theaters is here. Check out the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
