Taiwan Film Festival in Australia Flowers of Shanghai
6 September 2025
In the Playhouse
Cinema
Taiwan | 1998 | Shanghainese, Cantonese | Drama | Unclassifed 15+
Tony Leung and Michiko Hada star in the 4K restoration of the Hou Hsiao-hsien’s 1998 Palme d’Or nominated masterpiece, presented as the Closing Night of the 2025 Taiwan Film Festival in Australia.
| Date | Time |
| Saturday 6 September 2025 | 5:00pm |
| Ticket | Price |
| Standard | $30 |
| Concession Australian Pensioner Australian Senior Card Holder Australian Full Time Student | $26 |
| Ticket + Drink | |
| Standard | $39* |
| Concession | $36* |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
*Includes one standard ticket plus one drink redeemable on the day of the event from the Western Foyers Bar. Drink options include one glass of house red or white wine, prosecco, house beer or soft drink. See T&Cs under 'Event information'.
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
The only authorised ticket agency for this event is Sydney Opera House and Taiwan Film Festival in Australia. Taiwan Film Festival in Australia Passes are only accepted on the Taiwan Film Festival in Australia website. To purchase tickets with your Taiwan Film Festival in Australia Passes, please visit here.
For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Wednesday 2 July 2025
Wheelchair accessible:
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations in our theatres. To book accessible seating contact Box Office:
Telephone
+61 2 9250 7777
(Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
Email bookings@sydneyoperahouse.com
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House.
Run time
The total duration of this film is 118 minutes.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
The advertised start time is the film start time. Venue doors will open approximately 15 minutes before the advertised film start time.
Age
This event is Unclassified M15+
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy.
Ticket + Drink
The Ticket + Drink entitles a patron to one standard entry to the film screening plus one drink. Drink options include one glass of house red or white wine, prosecco, house beer or soft drink. Red wine must be consumed prior to entering the theatre.
Redeem your drink prior to the film start time. The voucher must be redeemed on the same day as the film screening date displayed on your ticket. The drink voucher is only redeemable at the bar located in the Sydney Opera House Western Foyers. For further information please contact the Box Office: +61 2 9250 7777
Alcoholic beverages are subject to the NSW Responsible Service of Alcohol Act.
Boston GlobeHou Hsiao-hsien is one of the masters of world cinema … Stunning and hypnotic
Useful information:
The Palme d’Or nominated masterpiece, closing the 2025 Taiwan Film Festival in Australia
An intoxicating, time-bending experience bathed in the golden glow of oil lamps and wreathed in an opium haze, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s gorgeous period reverie traces the romantic intrigue, jealousies, and tensions swirling around a late 19th century Shanghai brothel, where the courtesans live confined to a gilded cage, ensconced in opulent splendor yet forced to work to buy back their freedom.
Among the regular clients is the taciturn Master Wang (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), whose relationship with his longtime mistress (Michiko Hada) is roiled by a perceived act of betrayal. Composed in a procession of entrancing long takes, Flowers of Shanghai evokes a vanished world of decadence and cruelty, an insular universe where much of the dramatic action remains tantalizingly offscreen—even as its emotional fallout registers with quiet devastation.
Presented by Sydney Opera House and Taiwan Film Festival in Australia
Cast and credits
Directed by
HOU Hsiao-Hsien
Written by
HAN Bangqing
Eileen Chang
CHU T’ien-Wen
Cast
Tony Leung Chiu-wai
Michiko Hada
Michelle Reis
Plan your visit
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. Resale restriction applies. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
You may also like
Lime Cordiale with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
16 – 18 Oct 2025
Join Lime Cordiale on this transformative emotional journey at the Sydney Opera House, together with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Loyle Carner
4 Dec 2025
Loyle Carner has announced his brand new album hopefully !, alongside a huge global tour. Loyle will make his anticipated return to Australia with a stop in Sydney this December.
Marcia Sings Summer
10 & 11 Oct 2025
Celebrate the undisputed Queen of Disco Donna Summer with the Sydney Premiere of Marcia Sings Summer with Marcia Hines and vocal powerhouse Casey Donovan in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall this October.
