The Lovers (1994) is based on the famous Chinese legend of the Butterfly Lovers, a tragic romance between Leung San-pak and Chuk Ying-toi that has been made into countless films. Tsui Hark's remake is inspired by Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and stars Nicky Wu and Charlie Yeung in a youthful version of the classic legend. The film also provides a comedic touch about gender identity and homosexuality through Chuk Ying-toi, who cross-dresses as a man.

The film is set in the Eastern Jin dynasty, a period of great turmoil and upheaval. In order to climb up the ranks of society, Chuk’s father is determined to marry her off to a rich family, but Chuk falls in love with the scholar Leung. In addition to revisiting the anti-feudal theme of the original legend, Tsui also uses art to depict typical scenes from life in ancient China, transforming traditional customs such as men wearing makeup into prominent visual motifs. Set against a soundtrack featuring a new arrangement of the Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto, the film is a vivid and compelling romantic tragedy full of contrasts.

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Tsui Hark (b. 1951, Vietnam) spent his early years in Vietnam before moving to Hong Kong, where he completed his high school education. He then moved to the United States where he graduated from the film programme at the University of Texas at Austin. After a short spell of work in the US, he returned to Hong Kong and became a director at TVB. Later, during a brief stint at Commercial Television, he directed The Gold Dagger Romance (1978). The Butterfly Murders (1979), Tsui’s feature film directorial debut, was hailed as one of the early examples of the Hong Kong New Wave. Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980) faced censorship from the colonial government for its uncompromising vision. Tsui would break ground with Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) by introducing Hollywood special effects to the wuxia genre. For much of the 1980s, Tsui was one of the creative masterminds behind the hitmakers Cinema City.

In 1984, he and Nansun Shi founded Film Workshop, which launched with the critically acclaimed Shanghai Blues. Tsui and his company found much success in several popular long-running film series, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), The Swordsman (1990), and Once Upon a Time in China (1991). In a career spanning over four decades, Tsui has not stopped finding new ways to reinvent himself as a director, writer, and producer. His take on the wuxia genre has continued to evolve in The Blade (1995) and the Detective Dee series. His Chinese war epic, The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014), impressed audiences in China and abroad for his creative storytelling and eye for spectacle.