Tony Leung Chiu-wai (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) stars as a Cantonese civil servant and devoted patron of “flower houses”—the upscale brothels of late 19th-century Shanghai. His affections drift from the possessive, world-weary Crimson (Hada Michiko) to her younger rival Jasmin (Vicky Wei), while the plot branches out to the goings-on at two other houses. Pushing his long-take aesthetic to stunning extremes, Hou Hsiao-hsien uses just 37 shots to envelop viewers in a cloistered, candlelit world gone by, creating one of the most achingly beautiful films ever made.

35mm collection print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive