Kawashima Yoshiko

109 minutes | 1990 | Fiction | Cantonese | English and Chinese Subtitles

Content Advisory: This film contains scenes of sexual violence, violence, substance use

The 14th princess of the Prince Su clan was sent to Japan as a child, where she was renamed Kawashima Yoshiko (Anita MUI) and trained as a spy. Her emotional world collapses when her adoptive father rapes her, and from then on, she often dresses as a man, exerting her influence on Qing loyalists and Japanese imperial forces. She secretly escorts the Empress (Ida CHAN) to Lushun and devotes herself to aiding Puyi to establish Manchukuo. Entwined with a high-ranking Japanese officer (Patrick TSE), she crosses path with her former love––now a revoluntionary (Andy LAU). Old feelings stir, and she ultimately chooses to shield him.

Eddie FONG Ling-ching (b. 1954 in Hong Kong) fell in love with cinema at a young age. He began his career as an editing assistant at Shaw Brothers before studying communications at Hong Kong Baptist College. After graduation, he worked as a television scriptwriter. His directorial debut, An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty (1984), brought him critical acclaim, followed by films such as Cherry Blossoms: When Tat Fu Was Young (1988) and Kawashima Yoshiko (1990). Fong maintains a long-term creative partnership with his wife, director Clara LAW, writing and producing many of her films. They immigrated to Australia later and continue their creative work there.