Director Wong Kar-wai's First TV Series Stokes Nostalgia for 90s Shanghai
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Director Wong Kar-wai's First TV Series Stokes Nostalgia for 90s Shanghai
‘Blossoms Shanghai’ evokes memories of a more open and optimistic period in China.
A craze for Shanghai is sweeping China thanks to a television drama set in the city in the 1990s that has tapped into growing nostalgia for a past era, at a time of deep economic malaise in the country.
Blossoms Shanghai, which aired the last of its 30 episodes on Jan. 9, tells the story of Ah Bao, a young opportunist trying to strike riches through the city’s then nascent stock market and export industry, while romancing three women. The show, originally a novel, was adapted by Wong Kar-wai, the first foray into TV for the Hong Kong director whose distinctive cinematography is present in the sultry aesthetics of Blossoms. Wong, who was born in Shanghai, is best known internationally for his movies including In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express.
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The show, which evokes memories of a more open and optimistic time, comes as China’s citizens struggle with an economic slowdown and tightening state control over all areas of business and private life. In Shanghai, that feeling of longing for the past is compounded by the lingering trauma of the Covid lockdown, where residents were forced to stay in their apartments for months. That anger culminated in rare street protests at the end of 2022.
