Shanghai is an upcoming period movie set in the years preceding the full invasion of China by Japan during World War II. This mystery drama movie is starring John Cusack, Gong Li, Chow Yun-Fat and
Ken Watanabe.
John Cusack is like a dandy in his tuxedo:
And Chow Yun-Fat looks like a mandarin, high ranking public official in the former Chinese Empire, in his traditional outfit:
More pictures of the movie are available at:
I think they got it right for the costumes of the movie Shanghai. It will be a nice period movie.
:)
The “traditional” Chinese outfit Chow is wearing is not at all traditional, but was derived from Manchurian fashions. this particular style was worn only for a short period in the early half of the 20th century. These are examples of traditional Han Chinese clothing:
Han Chinese beauties in traditional costumes (Hanfu)
Artworks for Chinese REAL costumes Hanfu.(include some noblewomen wearing formal attires )
More about Han Chinese clothing at: Wikipedia
China is a wide country: the Hans are not the only ones to be guardians of Chinese traditions…
Historically, the Han were the dominant rulers with the exception of the Yuan (Mongol) and Qing (Manchu) dynasties. The current rulers have been fair about giving recognition to the minority non-Han ethnic groups, which had endured discrimination in the past. However, that doesn’t take away the fact that the traditional Han costumes are more representative of China as they’ve been worn for thousands of years until 1644 with the Manchu conquest.
Greetings from California! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to browse your site on my iphone during lunch break. I love it!