# The Wasted Times (ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海)
**The Wasted Times** (original title: 羅曼蒂克消亡史; Japanese release title: ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海) is a 2016 Chinese crime drama directed and written by Cheng Er (程耳), set in Shanghai around the outbreak of the [Second Sino-Japanese War](https://www.edgepedia.org/second-sino-japanese-war). It stars Ge You (葛優) as the mob boss Mr. Lu, [Zhang Ziyi](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhang-ziyi) (章子怡) as the socialite Xiao Lu, and [Tadanobu Asano](https://www.edgepedia.org/tadanobu-asano) (浅野忠信) as Watabe, Lu's Japanese brother-in-law and adviser.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original / English title | 羅曼蒂克消亡史 / The Wasted Times[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) |
| Director and writer | Cheng Er (程耳)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) |
| Production | China, 2016, 123 minutes, color, CinemaScope[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) • [2](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0026637) |
| Lead cast | Ge You (Mr. Lu), Zhang Ziyi (Xiao Lu), Tadanobu Asano (Watabe), Gillian Chung, Du Chun, Yuan Quan[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) |
| Key crew | Music Shigeru Umebayashi (梅林茂); cinematography Du Jie (トー・ジエ)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) |
| Setting | Shanghai, beginning in 1937 on the eve of open war with Japan[3](https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wasted-times-cheng-er-2016/) |
| Awards | Best Film, 24th Beijing College Student Film Festival (2017); Asian Film Awards nominations for Best Cinematography (Du Jie) and Best Costume Design (Yee Chung-Man)[4](https://www.emp.hk/en/production/all/the-wasted-times) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film opens in 1937 Shanghai, shortly before open war with Japan begins. Mr. Lu (Ge You) has built a firm position in the city's underworld, using wealth and violence as circumstances require. His sister's husband Watabe (Tadanobu Asano) is Japanese but has lived in Shanghai so long that everyone treats him as Chinese, and he serves as Lu's trusted adviser.[2](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0026637) • [3](https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wasted-times-cheng-er-2016/)
A Japanese businessman backed by the military approaches Lu with a proposal for a joint venture, in some accounts the founding of a joint bank. Watabe warns Lu that doing business with Japan is dangerous, and Lu politely declines the offer brought by the businessman, who arrives accompanied by military officers. This refusal sets an assassination plot against Lu in motion, and a meeting arranged at Watabe's Japanese restaurant erupts into a shootout.[2](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0026637) • [5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/176382) • [6](https://tower.jp/item/5284349)
The Emperor Motion Pictures synopsis adds the film's central betrayal: Watabe is in fact a spy sent by Japan. Lu's family members are killed one after another, and the story follows the aftermath across the war years, with Lu and Xiao Lu eventually plotting vengeance on the soldier who betrayed them.[4](https://www.emp.hk/en/production/all/the-wasted-times) • [7](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/the-wasted-times)
## Structure and style
The film tells its story non-chronologically. After a bloodbath roughly 25 minutes in, in which half the main characters are killed, the film jumps back three years to 1934 to show the Lu household, its love affairs, and the actresses of Shanghai's film industry, then moves forward to 1941 and Hong Kong, and later to the war's end.[8](https://www.tribes.org/web/2017/1/12/the-wasted-times) • [3](https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wasted-times-cheng-er-2016/) The Mulan Festival program describes the story as spanning three separate periods and culminating in a suspenseful finale.[9](https://mulanfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mulan_programme_book.pdf)
**Basis in history.** Many characters are inspired by real figures; Ge You's mob boss is based on the notorious Shanghai gangster [Du Yuesheng](https://www.edgepedia.org/du-yuesheng).[10](https://www.yesasia.com/global/the-wasted-times-2016-dvd-taiwan-version/1072799864-0-0-0-en/info.html) Reviewers noted the film's deliberately depopulated Shanghai, its baroque eruptions of violence, and a self-conscious meta-humor, including a scene in which an actress tells a friend that the film-within-the-film is an art film made for the 21st century.[11](https://chinafilminsider.com/film-review-wasted-times-vulgar-silly-exquisite/) • [3](https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wasted-times-cheng-er-2016/)
## Cast and production
The ensemble pairs two of China's leading stars with a Japanese one: Ge You, known for *To Live*; Zhang Ziyi, known for *The Grandmaster*; and Asano Tadanobu. [Gillian Chung](https://www.edgepedia.org/gillian-chung) plays [Xiao Wu](https://www.edgepedia.org/xiao-wu), Du Chun appears as a killer, and Yuan Quan plays Wu. The wider cast includes [Han Geng](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-geng), Yan Ni, Huo Siyan, Nie Dahong, and Wallace Chung.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) • [10](https://www.yesasia.com/global/the-wasted-times-2016-dvd-taiwan-version/1072799864-0-0-0-en/info.html) • [12](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/378645)
Cheng Er wrote and directed, and also edited the film. Shigeru Umebayashi, composer of *The Grandmaster*, wrote the score, and Du Jie shot it; art direction and costume design were by Yee Chung-Man.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) • [10](https://www.yesasia.com/global/the-wasted-times-2016-dvd-taiwan-version/1072799864-0-0-0-en/info.html) Production companies included Huayi Brothers Media Group and Emperor Film Production Company.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wasted_times_2016)
## Release
The film was originally slated for release in October 2015 but was repeatedly delayed.[3](https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wasted-times-cheng-er-2016/) Sources differ on its Chinese opening: Far East Films reported an opening across China on December 23, 2016,[14](https://fareastfilms.com/fef-news/trailer-wasted-times/) while The Numbers lists a limited domestic release on December 16, 2016.[15](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Luomandike-xiaowang-shi-%28China%29) In the United States, China Lion Film Distribution released it on December 16, 2016, where it grossed $348.9 thousand.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wasted_times_2016)
The Japanese release came nearly five years after production, on October 22, 2021, under the title ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海, as part of the のむコレ'21 festival at Cineart Shinjuku in Tokyo and Cineart Namba in Osaka, distributed by Access A.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/) • [2](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0026637)
## Reception
Critical response was divided. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 33% Tomatometer from 6 reviews against a 75% audience score from more than 250 ratings; on IMDb it rates 6.9/10 from about 2,200 users.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wasted_times_2016) • [16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4623812/) Ben Kenigsberg of *The New York Times* wrote that it "plays like a movie carved out of a much larger mini-series, whose segments are then shown out of order," and James Marsh of the *South China Morning Post* gave it 2/5, calling it convoluted and impenetrable; Boon Chan of *The Straits Times* gave 3.5/5, finding it fresh and intriguing in a Chinese context.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wasted_times_2016)
In China the film fared better with the industry. It won Best Film at the 24th Beijing College Student Film Festival in 2017 and received Asian Film Awards nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.[4](https://www.emp.hk/en/production/all/the-wasted-times) It also received the director award at the 8th China Film Directors' Guild awards and the art award at the 31st Golden Rooster Awards, among numerous nominations.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/176382)
## Note on the title
The English-language title "Once Upon a Time in Shanghai" also belongs to a separate 2014 martial arts film directed by Wong Ching-po, starring [Philip Ng](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-ng) and [Sammo Hung](https://www.edgepedia.org/sammo-hung); the 2016 Cheng Er film discussed here is a different work that received that Japanese title on release.[17](https://wellgousa.com/films/once-upon-time-shanghai)
## References
1. [ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海 : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ・動画, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/95504/)
2. [ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海 (2016)：キャスト・あらすじ・作品情報, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/movie/T0026637)
3. [The Wasted Times (Cheng Er, 2016), The Chinese Cinema](https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-wasted-times-cheng-er-2016/)
4. [The Wasted Times, Emperor Motion Pictures](https://www.emp.hk/en/production/all/the-wasted-times)
5. [ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/176382)
6. [ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン上海/チェン・アル, タワーレコード](https://tower.jp/item/5284349)
7. [The Wasted Times (2016), MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/the-wasted-times)
8. [The Wasted Times, A Gathering of the Tribes](https://www.tribes.org/web/2017/1/12/the-wasted-times)
9. [The Wasted Times, Mulan Festival programme](https://mulanfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/mulan_programme_book.pdf)
10. [The Wasted Times (2016) (DVD) (Taiwan Version), YesAsia](https://www.yesasia.com/global/the-wasted-times-2016-dvd-taiwan-version/1072799864-0-0-0-en/info.html)
11. [Film Review: 'The Wasted Times' is Vulgar and Silly, but Exquisite, China Film Insider](https://chinafilminsider.com/film-review-wasted-times-vulgar-silly-exquisite/)
12. [ワンス・アポン・ア・タイム・イン・上海, allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/378645)
13. [The Wasted Times (2016), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wasted_times_2016)
14. [Trailer: 'The Wasted Times', Far East Films](https://fareastfilms.com/fef-news/trailer-wasted-times/)
15. [Luomandike xiaowang shi (2016), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Luomandike-xiaowang-shi-%28China%29)
16. [The Wasted Times (2016), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4623812/)
17. [Once Upon A Time In Shanghai, Well Go USA](https://wellgousa.com/films/once-upon-time-shanghai)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Crime drama and neo-noir films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license