Tsui Hark's Peking Opera Blues, Unreleased in France, Arrives in Theaters

Directed in 1986 by Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark, Peking Opera Blues reaches French screens for the first time, presented by Le Monde as a standout of his filmography. The film moves fluidly between comedy, action, espionage plotting and period fiction, set against political intrigue unfolding both inside the palace and on the opera stage. Its structure rests on strong female leads, and the narrative draws much of its pleasure from the confusion of identities among its characters. Le Monde's presentation emphasizes the seamlessness with which the director braids together genres that rarely share the same frame — slapstick, chase sequences, spycraft and historical drama — without letting any strand dominate. The French release marks the movie's first theatrical availability in the country, introducing local audiences to a title made during Hark's prolific mid-1980s period in Hong Kong cinema. No French release date, distributor or participating venues are specified in the source material.