The encounter of two actors who radiate on screen in this very good mob saga in 30's Shanghai
Shanghai Grand, it's the encounter of three monsters of hong-kongese 7th art : Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing and Tsui Hark at the production (meaning discrete direction...).
In this movie, you can feel a whole latent nostalgia of the hong-kongese imaginary : 30's Shanghai with
all its heroes and its betrayers, cultural and historical crossroad.
Ding-Lik (Andy Lau) is a young boss of poor areas in Shanghai, limited to garbage man jobs, who falls
in love with the daughter of a big shot of the town. Besides, Cheung Man-Kit (Leslie Cheung), memebre of the guomintang
(taïwanes nationalist party) captured by the japanese, escapes and head for Shanghai. Both destiny meets
and together, they conquer Shanghai underworld.
The movie, adapted from a major tv series, doesn't come without a side long saga too quicly related, but that
probably is the main defect of the movie.
Shanghai Grand on the other hand, does have a neat grooming on a photography and direction side as
on a costumes and sceneries one.
The movie contrasts a romance quite light and naive with another much more wild and rough. 
Thereby, it's the whole film who skillfully mix lightness and viloence which gives some very
interesting scenes.
Such actors encounter is quite rare on screen and that oneenlight the movie with an impressive aura.
Leslie Cheung imposes his violent playing that we know of him while Andy Lau allows himself a few
whimsy which he'll fully let go a few years later in other movies where he'll confirm what Shanghai Grand
makes us suspect : Andy Lau is (learned to become) a great actor.
The direction is amitious but efficient with wide and graceful crane shots and several gunfights
pretty stylish (the shot when Leslie pull out a gun from his corduroy (heavy velvet) jacket became
mythic) and give to the film a interesting rythm even though a bit disturbed by a narration that Tarantino
would surely love....not me...
The musical theme has just become cult ever since, mostly for the sung version by
Andy, and accompanies for the best this great saga. Costumes and sceneries have a large part in this magnificent
historical reconstitution result and constitute of the great qualities of the movie.
In Brief, this mob saga on a historical background quite successful is one of the great film of HK 90's cinema and
allows an encounter of two giants of Hong-Kong acting world, for our greatest pleasure. Shanghai Grand is an excellent movie that
I much advise you to watch.
