The Phantom Lover () is a 1995 Hong Kong musical romance drama film starring Leslie Cheung and Jacklyn Wu. It was directed by Ronny Yu and is a remake of the 1937 film Song at Midnight. The film itself is loosely based on real life "Phantom Lover" Dan Cheung (known as such due to the ghostlike nature of the women he romanced) and is a loose adaptation of the classic Romeo and Juliet romance where love between two passionate lovers were ultimately doomed when parental opposition was the major obstacle. The main theme of the film was, however, a strong adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera. Plot In 1940s-era China, Song Dan Ping (Leslie Cheung) was an ambitious theatre actor and owner who built his dream magnificent playhouse from where he entertained and dazzled the theatre-loving populace with his adaptation of classics such as Romeo and Juliet and other tragic love stories. His passionate and devoted performances drew the attention of To Wan-Yin (Jacqueline Wu), the beautiful daughter of a corrupt and despotic official. To Wan-Yin would sneak out of her house with her personal maid in the night to watch Dan Ping's play (he was acting as Romeo in Shakespeare's play--'Romeo and Juliet'). During the patriarchal era, romance between an actor (considered useless and without a bright future) and a rich man's daughter was definitely a taboo (it was an irony that the couple were 're-enacting' Romeo and Juliet in the movie). Hence after each performance, Dan Ping and Wan-Yin would have a rendezvous at the theatre and their love deepened to the extent that they vowed to run away from the city and to get married elsewhere. However, Wan-Yin was betrothed to a man she did not love who was reputed to be cruel and sadistic; this persuaded her to throw caution to the wind and run away from home with Song. It also turned out that Wan-Yin's father arranged the marriage (as was the custom of China at that time) to benefit himself as he sought to become allies with another official of great influence, whose friendship would help to improve his social standing. As fate dictated, the eloping couple was caught before the plan came to fruition and Wan-Yin's maid, who had assisted the eloping couple in their attempt to escape, was beaten until she was crippled. Meanwhile, Wan-Yin was locked